The way back
by wolfd890
Summary: An unexpected adventure finds an average and perfectly happy twenty some year old Canadian. But the journey he must undertake is partially of his own doing. A slightly more realistic spin on ALTA(except for how he got there), seen thru the eyes of a man who fights to keep his humanity and life intact.
1. Prologue

**Hello fellow avatar fans, and welcome to my half-baked story! First of all thank you for deeming my intro worthy of your attention(I found it hard to try and sum up the core ideas of this story in only one paragraph) Also, if you find any spelling errors or sentences that sound confusing, I apologize. On a related note, if you find yourself with some spare time feel free to contact me if you'd like to proof read any of the next chapter (pretty please?)**

**Finally, the almighty disclaimer overlord needs an offering. 'Clears throat; "Avatar the last air bender is the sole property of Mr DiMartino &amp; Mr Konietzko. Please don't sue me!"**

* * *

Intense sunlight streamed into the house, bright enough to almost look solid thanks to the tiny dust particles that refracted a large portion of it. They swirled around lazily, stirred by a breeze from a nearby open window. He normally never saw the sun beam thru the south side windows unless it was the odd Sunday when he wasn't outside working in the yard. It felt wrong being here, at this hour at least. It was a weekday after all. A lot of things felt wrong actually, but that's to be expected when you were about to be kidnapped. Nothing like the traditional way, where men storm in and blindfold you before being pulled into a window less van. There was a certain class to it, but the idea was the same. He was powerless to stop what lay ahead. It was like death, something you tried to stave off, but ultimately a battle that would surely be lost. But it wasn't death that would claim him. Perhaps death would follow in his wake…? Actually, he was quite certain that it would. The leather glove he wore stretched audibly as his grip tightened on the rifle. He took a deep breath in an effort to calm his nerves, then checked over his weapons again, more to put the mind at ease than anything else. Waiting sucked! He'd never shot anything other than paper targets and the occasional pop can with it. It was a good rifle, solid and accurate. It would perform. He'd need that. Hopefully he wouldn't crack under the pressure. Like his gear, he needed to be solid, like a large boulder on a choppy coastline. The fabric of the heavy rucksack groaned as he shifted, the straps uncomfortably digging into his shoulder blades despite the padding.

The date was May 17th, 2014 when Dante Webber, a young man living in British Columbia's interior, found himself in front of what could be described as the gates of Hell. He was a mere moments away from being whisked to another world, one which he knew well enough, though he'd never actually been there. Dante watched the large wall hung clock. The ticking of the second hand echoed through his head, oddly hypnotising. Every sound felt amplified by a hundredfold. His mind was numb, partially from the suddenness of it all, but mostly because of the disbelief. He barely even had time to say goodbye to Joanna, his wife of a mere two months. The final seconds ticked by and the clock struck twelve. At least they were punctual. Static began to build, hairs started to rise, drawn by an invisible force. Crackling and humming drowned out the clock noise and traffic outside. Light enveloped him like a warm blanket, forcing him to don his Aviators. Seconds later he vanished…

oOo

6 hours earlier:

The day began normally enough. With the screeching of the alarm clock. _

Dante grunted, rather displeased with the offensive sounds coming from the small device. Ever since Joanna had been put on opening shift his mornings had become less pleasant. She moaned softly, mirroring his thoughts the alarm clocks announcement of 6:00 AM.

"_Hey cutie pie. Sleep well?"_

She yawned, then stretched next to him. _"M'hmmm"_

It was routine, and he liked routine. They'd come back from their honeymoon last week, and quite honestly as nice as the Caribbean was he liked home more. Even if that home had only been theirs for less than a year.

He ungracefully rose from the bed and put on yesterday's shirt (after a test sniff of course)

The idea of breakfast seemed appealing today, because the last of the Fruit-loops were now gone and he was allowed to open the Frosted flakes! Helz yeah!

He sat down, having pulled his wife's raisin brand down as well (she was too short to reach it without the step stool of shame as he liked to call it)

"_Thanks HAMsome"_ she said cheerfully before sitting down as well. He responded with a friendly-ish sounding grunt before shoveling another spoonful in his mouth. _'HAMsome? crunch, crunch, crunch. Haven't heard that one in a while.' _It seemed even Sugary Cereal wasn't enough to wake the young man up this morning. Oh well, less than an hour until coffee at work. He could suffer that long.

After dropping off Joanna at her job, Dante was briskly traveling along the side roads that lead to his work just outside the city. Traffic was fairly light, mostly due to the fact that it was still early in the A.M.

It was by his favorite time to commute.

The radio finished playing the last song before the start of the morning news hour, and the young Canadian turned up the volume in order to hear over the rumbling of a diesel pickup idling next to him at a red light.

'_Good Morning, this is your CIFM News Update for 7 o'clock. Today, as in the past 6 years marks the date when, in all likelihood another company here in North America will be chosen by the United Nations labeled terrorist group calling themselves "The overseers" to participate in their unique and barbaric form of blood sport. _

_Governments around the world have been unable so far to bring the mysterious and elusive group to justice. Violent demonstrations near parliament Hill in Ottawa as well as in other capitals including the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Japan have begun. Demonstrators are demanding that action be taken to stop these extremists from continuing their terrible annual event. No official statement has been given from the Federal Government, but Prime Minister Steven Harper re-iterated that there are steps being taken by the international community to bring the terrorists to justice. _

_Meanwhile, newly elected finance minister Joe Oliver assured Canadians that if a reaping were to occur within Canada, financial assistance would be provided to the families of all affected. _

_'In other news…'_

Dante switched off the radio.

Six years ago an unknown group of individuals calling themselves 'The Overseers' hijacked every single TV and radio station on the planet, a feat that until then was thought to be impossible. They broadcast in every language, declaring that the people of earth would serve as their source for entertainment.

The wording suggested that this… group may not be of terrestrial origin, although this was promptly dismissed by the general populace and is now only discussed by conspiracy groups. Every continent with the exception of Antarctica has a set date where once a year one medium to large sized firm or company is chosen to participate in 'The Reaping'. Each individual employee of the selected firm is allowed to choose from any man made work of fiction, be it a book, movie, TV series, or video game. The prerequisites are that the plot is complete, and the environment the employee is emerged in is deemed 'hostile' or dangerous enough by the Overseers.

The public at first was convinced this was a joke, until a mere three days later the entire staff of Bombardier, a Canadian air plane manufacturer, disappeared in the middle of a weekday without a trace. Shortly after live streams of those same employees were broadcast on the web and sent to all mayor television providers. Each must have had at least a dozen cameras following them, unaware they were being recorded. It is estimated that the staffing requirements to edit all the footage recorded must be in the thousands. This of course raised the question of whom, or more likely what organization could pull off such a feat.

The first year over 98% of the initial target group did not survive. 60% perished within the first 24 hours. The government attempted to isolate the broadcast signal and censor its gruesome content to no avail. 'In game' fatalities were placed back from where they were taken. Observations of these areas showed that the remains of the deceased were simply there after a blinding burst of light. Readings in the area on subsequent bursts revealed no real explanation.

After the first Reaping no one thought of it as a joke. Bombardier stock tanked before IIROC halted trading of the stock. In essence the company simply ceased to exist. With no one to manage Bombardiers finances, the Federal government stepped in and reallocated the funds in the companies' coffers to compensate the families of the deceased. Whatever funds or assets remained were divided to reimburse shareholders to some extent. Patents held by the doomed firm were given to rival companies in return for replacement part production for existing bombardier planes in service with airlines. The entire process lasted just under a year, during which the five other continents underwent similar scenarios. The next North American firm selected was based out of Mexico. The Americans didn't fully get involved until Yahoo was wiped out the year after that.

The sick thing is that by now it seems almost routine, like a fact of life. More people die each year on average from any number of things, be it tornadoes, blizzards, or car crashes then from 'The Reaping'. Many actually enjoy watching the event. Insurance companies offer select plans catered to the games like its good damn earthquake insurance. Officially the networks denounce the Games as barbaric and twisted, but unofficially they love them. The ratings go through the roof, and more people now link in to watch a reaping event than… say the super bowl. Bets on individuals can be placed, and completely unbeknownst to the participants the popular ones become instant celebrities. It was the ultimate games show. Personally Dante just hoped they reap one of the TV networks, be it ABC or AMC or god knows what kind of acronym they decided to use. The very idea of making a buck at the expense of people's lives disgusted him.

The rest of the drive went by quick, and Dante soon parked and began his morning routine. Despite having sold the book and movie rights of his previous endeavor, he was far too young to be retired. Instead he settled in the medium sized city of Kamloops, nestled between the merging North and South Thompson rivers. Westcorp, a camp solutions provider for the Alberta oil fields took him on as a designer shortly after. The young newlywed settled into his office with a hot cup of Joe and quickly began to address 'urgent' and important emails from either third parties or other departments that required 'immediate' attention. Dante rolled his eyes. More often than not those same people sit on their hands for two days before anything happens with that information anyway. Whittling down the never-ending email correspondence took just over an hour, which Dante deemed as not bad after peaking at his watch.

He frowned when he saw a new paper on his desk, titled 'Game Plan'. He snorted at the silly title, but glanced over it none the less. The document was basically designed to maximize your individual chance of survival should the company be selected for reaping. The main idea is to choose a work of fiction which you are comfortable with, and which you have in-depth knowledge of. In order to successfully survive a possible reaping, an employee must complete the plot in place of one of the main characters. Equipment lists must also be submitted that would aid you in achieving your goal. The items on that list, to everyone's surprise are supplied by none other than the overseers themselves! Their reasoning for this is unknown. Perhaps they think it's more entertaining if more of the participants survive longer. Dante's list hasn't really changed that much in the last few years. He selected an adequate fictional work, in this case a TV show. Really it's rather redundant, he thought. There are thousands of companies of comparable size in Canada alone, and that number swells to 6 figures when you add the United States and Mexico. Good odds indeed.

He placed the paper aside, comfortable with his…choices. Around 8 AM most of the other staff trickled in. They normally stayed until 4:30, but Dante always headed out by three. _'The perks of getting your ass out of bed early'_, he thought with a smirk. Around 9 the young Canuck tore into his lunch, and 9:15am marked the weekly metrics meeting start. Another cup of coffee made the next forty-five minutes bearable. After 10 Dante noticed the office staff tense up a bit more, and understandably so. 11am marked the selection of this year's Reaping participants. After the selection, the targeted firm's employees have one hour to finalize their fictional selection and optional equipment load outs before they are whisked away. Some people in previous reaping had gone into denial, and if no selection is submitted the overseers themselves decide. Not one person who's ever had the selection done by _them_ has survived.

The fictional works they get sent to are often incredibly gruesome. Last year some poor sap found himself in the video game Doom 3. The mere thought sent shivers down Dante's spine. Around 10:30am productivity for the entire plant and adjacent office staff basically reached nill. At that point Dante decided to break for lunch, a little earlier than usual. Forgoing his daily walk, he decided he was going to surprise Joanna with lunch. Luckily he managed to beat the noon rush and made it to her work a little before 11. Jo worked as an educator in a daycare not far from Dante's work. After greeting one of his wife's colleagues, he snatched the remote for the small TV in the corner of the room in order to tune into the news. The Game selection was about to be announced, and he didn't want to eat before breathing a sigh of relief.

Jo, who was just getting back in from the playground outside saw Dante just before he dropped the remote. Puzzled, she joined him a glimpsed at the reason for his shocked expression. Her hand flew to her mouth with a sharp intake of breath. Dante hung his head. _'Shit…'_

"_Oh no!"_

Dante looked at her with a weak but clearly forced smile. _"I'll make it back to you, I promise."_ He clasped her hand in his as tears streaked down her face. _"Wait for me, ok? I love you so, so much."_ She wrapped her arms around his chest, crying against him. Dante didn't like it when she cried. He felt bad, and he wasn't very good at consoling her. Instead he stroked her hair gently and held her tight. _'Why me?'_ he asked the ceiling with wet eyes.

The next hour flew by in a blur of hasty packing. He wished their goodbye hadn't been so quick, but time was of the essence. Really he was lucky (compared to his co-workers anyway) At least he got a chance to say goodbye.

Dante's list didn't include everything he needed in part because he kept his own rifles and pistols, and simply didn't trust those cloaked freaks with that sort of thing. After a tearful goodbye from Jo, he sped back to his work to fetch the frikkin list he left on his desk. The office was in a blind panic. People crying hysterically, panicked chatter, people peeling out of the parking lot. The whole works. He ignored it all, grabbed that piece of paper, and proceeded to clock 195kmh in a 50 zone on his way back into the city, a personal record.

Back at the house he packed his stepbrother/roommates army pack. The guy was in the reserves, and the pack was the only thing big enough to fit his equipment selection. After packing the basics, he scribbled a few… ok a lot of additions to his sheet. If he remembered correctly all the items listed should be in a pile when the light was done with him. He'd seen how a reaping worked. Unfortunately no one has ever picked the same work he did, so there was no way to gauge what would happen. No matter though, he was committed and knew almost everything about the place. And if there was a question, his cellphone had every single episode stored on a micro SD card.

The last few minutes were spent scribbling barely legible notes for his wife, instructions for bill payments, passwords, bank account information, and what place to change the oil for the car (NOT WALMART!). Last but not least he pulled out a picture from his wallet and tucked it into his back pocket. Then, Dante stared at the clock, waiting to be deposited into the World of Avatar, the last Air Bender.

* * *

**Well, I hope it all made sense. The character I used appears in another (as so far uncompleted story) hence the short quip about book/movie rights. I hope to finish that story soon, and when I do I'll provide a link here) Thanks for reading, and if you have any suggestions I'm all ears!**


	2. Chapter 1: Good Samaritan

Present:

The light was overpowering, even with the sunglasses on. But it was warm and comforting, and for a moment he imagined that heaven must be something like this. A few seconds later however the feeling subsided, leaving him standing in an open meadow. It was sunny out, with a few clouds casting their shadows on the landscape beyond. The tall grass around him swayed back and forth, tussled from a light breeze. Dante immediately crouched and swept the area with his M1A. With no one in sight, he dropped his pack and began to stow the pile of items lying on the ground. Next he swapped the pinned five round magazine for a full twenty. Canadian law dictated that all center fire rifles be limited to a capacity of five rounds or less, so one of the first items on his 'wish list' was a set of full capacity magazines. He placed more into his (borrowed) tactical vest, along with a half dozen pistol magazines for his HK USP. These mags held 15 rounds instead of the 10 he kept at home. Stowing the rest of his equipment took several more minutes, during which he often paused to visually scan the area. Luckily the tall grass camouflaged him well.

'_No sign of any cameras'_, he thought somewhat puzzled. 'Strange'

Dante's first priority was to get his bearings straight. Though he'd watched the show more than once, he knew little of the terrain or ecology. With limited supplies he needed to find human civilization sooner rather than later. Geared up he set out for higher ground, hoping to spot any signs of habitation, be it a village or even a trail. It must have been late spring, because the air was filled with pollen of all varieties. Large trees spewed white snow like balls of fluff across large swaths of land. Dante thought it looked quite beautiful, but the sight reminded him of his mother in law's severe allergies. Jo always talked about her, and now he associated pollen with her too. Hours passed, open fields turned into loosely spaced forest, and by the time his wristwatch read 3:26pm Dante was standing at the base of a sizable rock scree. It was as good a spot as any to break for a late lunch, which he was wise enough to pack before the hooded freaks decided to f**k over his morning.

He sat down on a large flat rock, and enjoyed what he assumed would be the last proper meal in a good long while. Hell, he was probably going to get travelers' diarrhea shortly after beginning to eat this worlds 'cuisine'. Dante estimated that they were probably 200 years behind his time, at least!

'_Food safe, what's that?'_ he thought sarcastically before devouring his sandwich.

Actually, it was a valid point. The inhabitants of this place would no doubt have a sort of immunity to whatever bacteria lurked in the food here. As an outsider he'd have to be mindful of what to eat. Call it a hard learnt lesson from less fortunate souls of previous games.

Deciding he couldn't waste any more daylight, he Wolfed down the rest of the meal and began to hike up the side of the rocky out cropping. The young man cursed himself when he reached the top for letting himself get out of shape. Winded, he again dropped his pack and pulled out a pair of binoculars. An initial scan revealed little. The mountains in the distance were snowcapped, but he couldn't find any bodies of water from his vantage point. Humans tended to settle around rivers or lakes, hence the interest in water. Undeterred, he focused on areas of interest and possible locations for paths or roads.

10 minutes later…

"_Nothing",_ he muttered. _"Not a single damn sign of civilization."_ Deciding to move on, he stowed his binos and proceeded to head further up the hillside, and hopefully find a location with a 360 degree view. The woods started getting thicker as he continued climbing, and by the time the sun was beginning to set he found himself on what he believed to be the top of the mountain. Unfortunately it was completely covered in dense carnivorous evergreens, which of course meant…tree climbing.

Go figure.

But that would have to wait until morning. The shadows created by the hilly countryside would easily obscure an otherwise identifiable road or building if he climbed now. It was time to set up camp, but before that he pulled out his compass. To his relief, west was in the general direction of the setting sun, which meant that the little device worked as advertised here. Dante decided against sleeping in a tent, in case he needed to exfiltrate the area quickly. Starting a fire in a wooded area seemed like a poor idea as well, so for tonight he dined on a can of baked beans and bread. The can later served as a primitive warning system when tied to some fishing line which was then placed 20 feet outside the perimeter of the camp. The woods became dark quickly. For the first time in many, many years he felt wary, almost scared of being in the dark. The last light left shortly after, casting his surroundings in total blackness.

With nothing to do, he began to think of his co-workers and how they possibly fared. Some had boasted about their selections. Would they be doing the same even now? How many were still alive? With a sigh, he pulled the jacket tighter around his shoulders and closed his eyes.

oOo

The day before he took his current situation in stride. By the next morning however (and without anything feeding what was clearly a caffeine addition) Dante's mood was quite foul. Luckily there was no one around that he could lash out at.

"_Stupid Tree, why do you have to be so tall"_, he muttered while continuing his slow ascend up the massive Fir. His pack and rifle were left at the bottom, leaning against the huge trunk of said tree. The climb was strenuous, but the view from the top did not disappoint. He could see his breath in the chilly morning air, but the cold was a welcome relief by the time he'd settled on a branch that would still support his weight. He wiped the sweat from his brow and gazed thru the binoculars. This time Dante spotted a number of tell-tale signs of human habitation. To the northeast was a meandering river nestled in a narrow but flat valley, on the shores of which was a waterwheel and attached millhouse. Fields of grain encompassed the speck of human craftsmanship. Several more structure could also be seen, though he couldn't make out the architectural style. If he had to guess though, the Earth Kingdom would probably be the most likely. In any case, he now had a real destination from which to go off of. Dante quickly confirmed his heading on the compass before he climbed back down. About half way down however the young Canadian froze, his eye having caught an unnatural color among the brown and greens of the forest.

Red.

Cursing his luck, he hastily resumed his descent. Back on firm ground he flipped his pack onto his back and slung his rifle over his neck. The young Canuck nimbly navigated through the trees, actively avoiding stepping on twigs or leaves that would give anyone else out there a reason to look in his direction. The glimpse of red was probably from Fire nation troops. It could be civilians, but he thought it unlikely. The air was too cool for the time of year to be from the volcanic islands. This was definitely the main continent. Dante roughly estimated their location to be between himself and the village spotted earlier. After another minute or so he came across a well-worn foot path, which he followed at an even greater pace. He re-spotted them not long after, suspicions confirmed. Crimson Red amour, spears, and the unmistakable clacking of metal on metal. That and the large red flame banners that screamed fire nation to anyone with even half a brain. It reminded Dante of the British Troops during the war of independence, with their bright red jackets and white pants.

'_What a bunch of tools'_, he thought before hiding behind a tree. His green cargo pants and tan coloured shirt made him blend in with the forest. Tools or not, they did seem to cover their six rather well. The rear guard often turned around to check for unwanted followers. The helmets however impaired his vision from the looks of things. The young man tailed them for the next two hours, not sure if the village was their ultimate destination or not.

'_The direction varies by about 30 degrees but ultimately they should be arriving there soon'_, he reckoned. The walk continued on for another hour before the path finally led the contingent followed by Dante out of the woods. Without the cover of trees, the BC native was forced to triple his follow distance in order to avoid being spotted. The solid bar of red however was still clearly visible.

'_Hell, you could probably spot those guys from 30,000 feet up'_ he thought with amusement.

The locals in the village must have also seen the advancing Colum of troops, because within minutes there was no movement between the quaint looking huts.

Dante frowned. He had an idea of what was about to happen, but wasn't sure if he wanted to stick out his neck quite that far in order to stop it. There must be over 70 men in that formation, and while he had superior range and firepower the odds would almost be even due to their numbers. But if they decided to raze the village, he would be back to square one. Wait, was he seriously considering shooting them?

"_God damn it, why do I keep getting shafted in situations like this?" _he cursed under his breath.

Decision made, or more like made for him, he fished one of the larger 50 round drum magazines out of his pack, and swapped it for the previous twenty. He pulled out a second one just in case and clipped it to his vest for easy access.

_"This is nuts"_ he cursed after finishing.

Deciding to go for speed, he ditched the heavy pack in the grass near the trail, and took a wide route near the riverbank to conceal his approach. Near the river though he paused, gazing into the swirling water with a confused look. Somehow, he could _feel_ the water in that river. It's like it was calling out to him. Not sure what to make of it he pressed on and packed the thought into the back of his head to mull over later. Dante couldn't afford to be distracted for what he was about to do. What he would be forced to do. Already the sound of splintering wood and screaming could be heard over the flow of the river. The young man threw caution to the wind and began to run.

Taking up position on the far side of the water wheel, he thumbed off the safety and began to look for targets of opportunity. He looked down at the rifle in his hands one more time. A fine machine, silky smooth to use in every way. Recoil was manageable thanks to the flip up butt plate and muzzle break, the action was the best money could buy, and the aim was true. But could he really use this to kill people. There was still time. Time to turn back and run. But in the process he would turn his back on innocents. Simple folks who didn't do anything wrong. Who for the most part couldn't defend themselves? He could tell himself he needed their help all day long, but the reason, the real reason he was crouched behind that Waterwheel was that at the end of the day he wouldn't be able to look at himself in the mirror if he walked away. So yes, he really could take human life. He'd have to. Would god forgive a sin a grave as the taking of life? Was murder ever justified? He'd never been overly religious. Technically protestant, the Webber family had never really attended church. All he knew was that there was sure to be a higher power out there. Not the Overseers, but a single entity that that was above it all.

"_Ok, just think of it like shooting pop bottles"_, he whispered. _"Or paper silhouettes."_

Two loud cracks, and the sentries in front of the largest hut were dropped. The massively powerful .308 rounds had no problem tearing through the soldiers' amour. He watched them spin as they died. It was done. Did he feel any different? Not really.

Next was a trio rounding a corner to Dante's left. They spotted him, but were felled before they could relay his exact position. Dante wounded another but missed the next as the lucky bastard moved behind a hut.

Worried he may be overrun soon, Dante relocated to just outside the village, and crouched in the tall grass. Several more fire nation troops fell to the mysterious sounds of thunder.

Dante, feeling a little adventurous because how easy things were going swapped out his drum mag and proceeded to walk into town. He felled dozens of troops who were steaming out of the various buildings in order to investigate the commotion happening outside. Most simply tried to rush the strangely dressed outsider, only to die in the dusty streets of this little village. Dante mentally kept track of his ammunition expenditures. With around 5 rounds left, there was enough of a lull to allow for another reload. He was careful to tuck away the near empty magazines. He only had about a dozen in total, and just two of the large capacity drum ones.

By his estimates there should be less than 15 men left alive. He was hesitant to enter the buildings, but it was equally stupid to remain out in the open. Fearful of getting attacked from the numerous nooks and crannies the village offered, he quickly doubled back at took up position in the tall grass once more. Dante did not remain there long. Some clever fire bender decided to light up the fields near where he was positioned. No doubt somebody had seen him moving to where he currently crouched. The wind however had other plans, and fanned the flames right back at the idiot. The house caught almost instantly, and Dante wasted no time putting two shots into the fleeing fire bender as he ran out the back door. The rest of the huts soon followed, and with the last remaining fire nation troops the local villagers streamed out of as well. Dante didn't have a clear shot. Luckily the remaining soldiers didn't realize they were unwittingly using the locals as hostages, and corralled them into what looked like the village square. Dante made himself visible once more and picked off four more that he had clean shots on. Fewer than 10 remained, and Dante felt that the odds were sufficiently even to try and negotiate with whoever was left in charge. A pompous looking man with large sideburns emerged from the group, fists at the ready. Dante raised his rifle, but kept his finger off the trigger.

" _I wouldn't do that if I were you buddy"_ he calmly stated.

The leader looked at him quizzically, but anger quickly hid his brief confusion.

"_WHO ARE YOU STRANGER?_ The man bellowed. _"YOU KILLED MY MEN; I'LL HAVE YOUR HEAD FOR THIS!__"_

Dante snorted. _"You shouldn't spout nonsense old man. If you had the power you would have already done it."_

The already angry fire nation leaders' face turned almost the same shade of red as his armour, which for some reason amused Dante to no end.

But before the man could retort, Dante spoke again.

"_As for whom I am, that's none of your business. You were in the process of sacking this place, and I caught you with your pants down. But I'm a nice guy. If you march yourself and your cronies out of this little village here, I'll spare you. Resist me, and you'll end up as worm food. Your call amigo."_

The confusion found its way back to the commander's face, and it also seemed to grace the rest of the people behind him. Murmurs began, with some audible bits floating into Dante's ears; _"This guy sure talks funny" and "What's an Amigo?"_

Dante sighed. Maybe he should lay off the slang a little. He was getting tired of keeping his gun trained on these guys, so he cut their little conversation short.

"_C'mon, what's it gonna be? I ain't got all day ya know"_

The commander snapped out of his stupor, turned heel and yelled; _"Men! Fall in!"_

Less than a minute later the remaining soldiers left the way they came, leaving behind a pile of corpses and a half burnt down village. Dante preferred to look at it as a half not burnt down village, ever the optimist. There was no way to sugar-coat that he just killed about 60 people though. That fact hadn't really hit home yet. He'd never killed another human being before today. Why was it that it didn't feel any different? Was it really that easy to take human life? He didn't take joy in it. These soldiers had families who were waiting for them no doubt. Mothers and Fathers who dedicated countless hours and incalculable treasure to raise them from birth. But they were also in the process of committing war crimes. The punishment in this case fit the offense.

Hands began to tremor. The young man hid it by gripping his rifle tighter. Now was not the time to crack.

Dante was still looking around his handiwork when the village elder, a prune of a man came up to him to offer his thanks.

"_Don't mention it"_ he replied. The rest of the group also murmured their thanks, though they didn't seem all too sincere. Dante couldn't blame them though. The place was in shambles. No matter though, he quickly got down to business.

"_Hey I'm not really sure where I am. Could one of you point out where we are on a map?"_ And with that, he pulled out a massively detailed map of the 4 nations, laminated of course. Most just looked at him with raised eyebrows, but one middle aged man practically salivated over the damn thing.

"_Stranger, where did you acquire such an exquisite map?"_ the man nearly yelled.

"_Errr, I bought it online?"_ Dante was scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"_And where is this Online located? I wish to go there"_

"_Umm…it's…very far from here. Yeah. My ship ran aground and I've been lost for weeks."_

"_But we're hundreds of miles from the sea. You walked that far?"_ the man stated.

"_Sure, hahaha yeah of course" _

Dante was pulling shit out of his a** now.

'_And this is why I don't lie'_, he thought as he turned away from what he felt like was his interrogator. Dante tried to get the conversation on track with the clap of his hands.

"_In any case, can you point out where we are or not?"_

"_Of course, of course",_ the villager replied before leaning over and placing a dirty finger on the southeastern part of the continent.

"_Oh boy. All right, and where is the closest port from here?"_ the man pointed again, this time over to the very east of the earth kingdom continent.

"_Figures",_ Dante muttered.

"_I have one more question, what units of measure do you use to gauge distances?" _The one thing this map has always lacked was a scale.

"_Well, this road here will take you to Ling Shau. Walking it would take about twelve days. I don't know what a 'unit of measure' is"._

"_Twelve…Days you say?"_ Dante looked like he was about to be executed.

"_Yes sir, eight if you have an ostrich horse."_

The Canadians head shot up. "_None of you would happen to have a spare ostrich horse for sale, would you?"_

He looked around hopefully. From the back of the crowd a young girl emerged, hand raised meekly.

"_I do have an Ostrich horse if you need one. My parents' farm is just outside of the village."_

"_Really? That's great! Let me just get my gear and we can blow this Popsicle stand."_

Every person in the village raised their eyebrows once again.

As Dante trotted off, an older woman wasted no time and approached the timid girl.

"_Moda, why did you offer to help this Stranger? He's dangerous! You should have kept your mouth shut girl!"_

More villagers began to voice their concerns, and the girl was near tears when Dante finally came back to the square. All conversation ceased much to the relief of the young girl.

"_Ready Freddy?"_ he asked her jokingly.

She nodded, and the duo began walking in the directions of the hills overlooking the valley.

"_My name is Moda, not 'Fre dee' stranger, but you have my thanks. If you hadn't shown up when you did, I…"_ she looked at the ground with a terrified expression, something which Dante picked up on immediately. Attempting to lighten the mood, he replied; _"Well, my name isn't stranger, but I guess you can call me Dante. Also, you're welcome."_

She smiled at his response. The rest of the trip to Moda's family's farm was uneventful with light conversation between the two. He was glad that his efforts to save the village had yielded something, and it's not just because he wasn't lost anymore. Now he could plan his next step, and maybe get some facts straight while he was at it.


	3. Chapter 2: Questions & Answers

Upon arriving, a large and burly man exited the quaint looking farm house and crossed his arms. He had a full beard and a guarded expression on the small remainder of his hairless face. Behind him the slim figure of a woman could be seen, most likely Moda's mother. The two remained silent as Moda began to make introductions.

"_Mom, Dad. This is Dante. I met him today at the village. Dante, these are my Parents."_

Dante wasn't sure what to do. Did these people shake hands for introductions? He would probably make things awkward (correction more awkward) if he held out his hand in greeting. He opted for a simple hello and a smile that hopefully didn't come across as looking creepy.

"_Pleased to meet you sir. You too ma'am" _

'_Oh god, it's like meeting your girlfriend's parents for the first time', _he thought with mild panic.

Moda's mother was the first to react with a big smile and warm welcome.

"_Well, any friend of Moda's is most certainly welcome here. I'm Mo Li."_ She gave her husband a stern look, and Dante instantly knew who wore the pants in that relationship. The bearded man gave Dante another wary look before grunting his approval and welcoming the oddly dressed stranger as well.

"_The name's Hue. Don't try anything funny lad. I've got my eye on you."_

Dante raised both hands palms facing out in defense. _"Wouldn't dream of it sir."_

With that out of the way the group headed inside. Unsure of what to do, the Canadian stood near the entrance, looking around the modestly furnished cottage until Moda walked up to him.

"_Please, feel free to place your belongings here if you'd like"_ she said, pointing to a general area next to the door. Dante nodded and un-slung his rifle, followed by his large pack. He breathed a sigh of relief as the tension slowly left his sore shoulders.

After accepting the mothers offer for water, Dante sat down and remained silent as the younger girl explained what had transpired in the village. He observed as their faces morphed from surprise to shock, then disbelief. Arms folded, he was anxious to see how they'd respond to their daughter's story.

"_Oh my"_, the mother whispered. But it was Hue who surprised Dante the most. He leapt from his chair, and gave the young Canadian a hard pat (more like a slap) on the back, a huge grim plastered across his face.

"_Anyone who stands up to those fire nation bastards is more than welcome in my house!",_ he proclaimed loudly. And with that he strode into the next room, returning shortly after with some amber colored liquid in two cups.

'_Oh boy'_, he thought. _'Please don't let it be over 100 proof.'_

Declining Hue's offer would most likely insult the man, so he accepted the first of what was to be too many cups with the mystery drink.

Both Moda and her mother rolled their eyes. Dante carefully sniffed, then tasted the cups contents, and determined it to by a type of fruit schnapps. It was good, but hardly a drink for… a little after two in the afternoon, he thought after peaking at the wrist watch.

Questions from Hue about how he'd slain the wretched Fire Nation soldiers followed, and Dante was having difficulty asking questions of his own. Apparently Moda's older brother was fighting in the earth kingdom army, and Hue himself had been a soldier as well.

'_A military family then'_, Dante surmised. _'That would explain the booze in the afternoon and the mothers disapproving look. I wonder if this guy has PTSD or something.'_

Moda came to Dante's rescue and explained why he was here.

"_An emu horse you say? Oh yeah, we have plenty of those",_ a thoroughly buzzed Hue said between big gulps of what looked to be ale or mead.

"_Would you mind if I take one off your hands? I'll compensate you for it of course."_ Dante asked cautiously.

"_Nonsense young man!" _Mo Li softly chimed in. _"After what you did for Moda, we would gladly give you our fastest ostrich horse, and you most definitely don't need to pay us."_

Hue nodded in agreement, looking very alert and serious for about 30 seconds before returning his attention back to the lack of booze in his cup.

Seeing no point in protesting further without insulting his hosts, Dante thanked both Moda and her parents.

"_Now with that out of the way it's time to prepare dinner,"_ the mother stated cheerfully. _"Moda dear, could you give me a hand?" _

Dante was left to his own thoughts, and for the first time since this whole fiasco began t unfold, he had time to mull over how we was supposed to get back to his world.

'_Obviously I replaced a main character in the show'_. But defeating the fire nation was done by a number of characters, so he was unsure as to whom he was filling in for.

He leaned back in his chair and pulled out an antique looking tobacco pipe before placing it into his mouth. It was an old habit he picked up while vacationing on Hell Hound Island as he liked to call it. Dante had never smoked from it, but he liked playing with it while he thought.

Now that he had a general idea of where he was going, he needed to group up with the rest of the kids from the show. The Water tribe siblings, Sokka and Katara, were at the southern pole. Not a great place to visit, but he would need their help if we wanted to pull this off. Toph lived in Gaoling, which a ways northwest of his current position.

Hopefully the Avatar was still around; otherwise he'd have to hoof it everywhere instead of flying around like a Boss, not to mention the fact that he would have to deal with the pyromaniac currently leading the fire nation. He needed to know at what point he was inserted into the timeline. After that he could calculate how much time he had to complete the stories plot.

"_Excuse me, but I have a few questions. Could you help me get a few facts straight?" _he looked over to where the girls where in the process of making an already delicious smelling stew. Hue didn't look like he could tell apart a barn door from a person at this point, and Mo Li was quick to snatch the bottle away from him before addressing Dante.

"_Of course Dante"_

The young Canadian was momentarily distracted by Hue sad attempt at protest, but quickly snapped back to his original inquiry.

"_What year is it?"_

The question made everyone pause, which didn't surprise Dante.

"_Well, it's now the 99__th__ year A.S,"_ Moda answered while chopping up vegetables at an impressive pace.

"_A.S.?"_ Dante asked as casually as he could without sounding insane. Moda and Mo Li exchanged confused looks.

"_After Sozin, as in when the war began"_, Mu Li explained before sipping a small portion of broth.

"_Right, right,"_ the young Canuck replied before falling silent once again.

'_Duh Dante, of course it means that. Gah, they must think I hit my head or something.'_

He quirked an eyebrow. _'Wait, that's actually not a bad idea.' _

Feigning Partial Amnesia would sound way more believable than saying; _Hey, I got sent here by a terrorist group from another dimension for sport. Can I get another bowl of stew?'_

"_What can you tell me about the Avatar?" _

Before either of them could even draw breath, Hue let out a snort of disgust.

"_The AVATAR…"_ he hollered far too loudly, _"…has been missing since before the start of the war. He could have prevented the last one hundred years is he wasn't such a coward. I bet he's still hiding somewhere, to afraid and probably too old to come out and make things right."_

And with that Hue spat on the compacted dirt floor of the hut, which earned him a solid slap to the back of the head from his wife. _"I've told you time and again not to spit in here. The next time I'll use the spoon, you hear?" _

Dante winced briefly but soon had a grin on his face, one that Hue matched after grumbling at his wife.

'_Men'_, Moda and Mo Li thought simultaneously as they rolled their eyes.

'_So the Avatar has not reappeared as of yet, and its already spring, at least in the southern hemisphere.'_

"_He's overdue"_, Dante mumbled with concern. But before he had any more time to ponder what this news meant, a large and battered pot slammed down on the table, signaling the start of grub time.

The late afternoon supper was delicious, and even if it was for a mere hour, Dante briefly forgot about the daunting task that still lay ahead of him. He was with good company, and the conversation, while sometimes hard to find common topics was enjoyable.

After finishing his third bowl, Dante leaned back in his chair and let out a content sigh.

"_Oh God, I'm so stuffed"_, he groaned. _"Ma'am, that was delicious."_

Mo Li smiled at the compliment, and Dante was quick to help tidy up once everyone had finished. It was the least he could do after getting fed.

Later Hue led Dante outside after a request from the Canadian to see the rest of the farm.

Moda and Mo Li meanwhile sat down with a freshly brewed pot of tea.

"_What a polite young man you brought home Moda,"_ Mo Li casually stated between sips of tea.

Moda, unsure of what to say simply nodded in agreement.

"_He does seem quite friendly" _Mo Li continued._ "But also very strange. Where do you think he came from?"_

"_He says his ship washed ashore and he wandered until he found our village, but I don't think that's the case. He wears odd clothing and carries strange items, things I've' never before laid eyes upon. The way he defeated the fire nation soldiers in the village was very different from any non-bender weapons I've ever heard of.. He said his weapons work like arrows, but the bow is that long wood and metal stick he carries." _

"_Hmm"_, Mo Li simply acknowledged. _'Quite interesting, this stranger.' _

She made a note to accompany Moda to the village tomorrow, where she hoped to meet her contact from Earth Kingdoms Intelligence gathering division which she still was a part of.

Almost two decades ago Mo Li, who was on assignment in what were now the western fire nation colonies met her now husband Hue. Hue was an earth kingdom regular part of the then much larger army tasked with containing and repelling the sizable foothold the fire nation had acquired years prior.

In due time the young couple wed and Hue's enlistment term ended, allowing the soon to be parents to resettle here, where they hoped the fire nation would never reach. Unfortunately the latter part didn't quite pan out as intended thanks to today's events, and their precious daughter almost fell victim to the very evil they had fought two decades ago. Mo Li was truly grateful to the stranger and thanked the spirits for his timely arrival, but his wondrous weapons could truly change the tide of this awful war. She needed to relay her finding to the Earth kingdom authorities. Having this individual get captured by the fire nation would be disastrous.

Yes, tonight she would attempt to coax more secrets from this young man. After that they would most likely head to Ba Sing Se. Her position and Hues old rank would ensure them the middle ring at least, and with it security for their daughter.

The fire nation was operating in this province, and today's events would surly make them a target. Mo Li gazed at her precious Moda, and wondered how she would adjust to life in the city. It would certainly be different. When her husband snapped out of his drunken stupor, she would explain her newly forged plan to him. She'd let him indulge in his vice for too long. Many things would need to be accomplished in the next few days, and she needed him alert.

oOo

Dante was leisurely strolling past the various pens and out building that dotted the area around the farm house. He marveled at the strange animals that existed in this world.

'_It's like they crossed every other animal with pigs'_ the thought in amazement. Pig chicken, pig cow, pig sheep, you name it, it's here. They all looked hilarious, and Dante quickly took a few shots with his cell phone. The flash drew even more of the creatures, whose attention was solely fixed on Dante.

'_Priceless'_, he thought as he gazed at the screen with a big grin.

Hue, who had excused himself earlier to tend to the animals, returned a short while later.

"_All right lad, I'm all done for today. Let's turn in for the night_." Dante nodded in agreement and followed Hue back to the house, glad not to be sleeping at the base of a tree in the middle of the forest. He'd finished placing a half dozen battery powered motion sensors along the perimeter of the farm. Later he would link them remotely to an alarm.

It was a mistake to let those remaining fire nation troops live. There was no doubt that they would try to find him, and with his secret partially out of the bag his weapons, while still effective wouldn't have the same impact should it come to another confrontation. Fortunately his bag of tricks was deep, and night combat would give him a further advantage.

Back inside, the two men joined Moda and her mother for some more conversation and unfortunately drinks. Hue was listening intently, but most of the questions were asked by Mo Li. Dante found it somewhat curious at how interested she was in his gear, but he guessed that was to be expected. The conversation carried on for another forty-five minutes before the last light faded on the western horizon and the candles had burned themselves to short stumps. Moda showed Dante to the spare room, which held a crudely made straw bed and doubled as a storage room from the looks of things. Left alone, he unpacked the warning devise and flicked it to the correct frequency. The alarm would indicate which sensor was tripped, and Dante sketched a rough layout of the farm on a piece of parchment. That done, he brushed his teeth and literally hit the hay. The last thing that went thru Dante's head before sleep overtook him was the picture of Jo he kept in his pack.

The next morning came all too soon, with the first rays of sun tickling the young Canadians face. The night had been quiet much to his surprise, although a welcome one. The expected nightmares from what happened the day before also didn't materialize, which was a bonus. What wasn't was the headache he suffered with. The young man emerged from his room looking groggy with hair and straw jutting from odd angles.

The sight made Mo Li giggle as she tended to what smelt like bacon to the half-asleep man.

"_Mornin",_ he grunted before sitting down and resting his abused head on the table. Mo Li felt bad for the suffering young man and set a cup of water in front of him. Even though he only drank a fraction of what Hue had last night, the results were exponentially amplified. Meanwhile the other bastard was already up and working around the farm.

'_It's not fair'_, the hung-over young man thought. Dante accepted the mug with a grateful grunt and began to down the contents.

Breakfast wasn't long after, and much to Dante's dismay the volume of Hue's voice hadn't changed.

After the meal, he asked Moda if she could teach him how to ride an ostrich horse. The request baffled the family, but after encouragement from Moda's mother, she agreed and the two went outside for Dante's first lesson riding a bird. Thank god the water had helped.

After what must have been Dante's 5th fall from "Ruffles", Mu Li announced that she was heading into the village to run a few errands.

"_Moda, I thought you guys were giving me the 'BEST' Ostrich horse you had, not the most stubborn." _

Moda was near tears by then from laughing so hard, and Hue had also stopped whatever he was doing to watch the free entertainment. Dante was ready to cook the bird and turn it into a nice thanksgiving main dish.

As the day wore on however the novice rider actually made headway. It was a slow progress, but by late afternoon his efforts bore fruit. Ruffles had accepted him, and followed his commands most of the time. Feeding the bird treats for good behavior had turned the tide of this battle, he thought with satisfaction.

Mo Li had returned shortly after noon, and was busy loading a large cart with belongings along with Hue. The middle aged woman looked somber. Hours earlier she had gone to the village to meet her Earth Kingdom Intelligence contact. The scene there shocked her. It had been years since she'd seen a sight so gruesome such as this. The bodies were piled high and already fire was greedily consuming the victims from the very nation that idolized it. The irony was not missed by the middle aged woman. She took note of the razed huts as she walked further into the village, but was relieved to see that her contact's was still intact. The building in question was a legitimate business, in this case a flower shop as to not arouse suspicion. Mo Li looked around before knocking at a set interval on the heavy wood door. The one she just completed signaled the all clear from a member. It was a simple but inconspicuous safeguard, but it was often the easiest things that worked the best. A small cover in the door slipped open to reveal a set of eyes. Seconds later Mo Li was inside the shop, let in by the same old man who had expressed interest in Dante's map.

"_That's quite the mess out there"_ she casually stated.

"_I take it your daughter informed you then of the events that took place yesterday?"_ the man replied.

Mo Li nodded.

"_Well it was very fortunate that the strange outlander happened to pass thru when he did. I assume you've met him? Your daughter offered to help him after he asked for directions."_

Mo Li had been unable to glean from the youth where he was headed despite her best efforts the night before.

"_He's currently staying on the family farm. I assume you've already sent word. He briefly explained how his weapons work. Such technology would turn the tide in our favor."_

He man nodded in agreement. _"Yes indeed. I've already sent word to Pohuai. With luck they should be able to intercept him on his way to Ling Shau._"

Mo Li nodded. It pained her greatly to have to do this, but the very fate of the world may depend on her current actions. The lives that could be saved far outweighed her conscience, which was currently screaming bloody murder.

'_Hopefully whomever they send to capture him won't hurt Dante.'_ She thought while watching her daughter continue teaching the young man to ride.

oOo

Dinner that night consisted of bread and leftovers from the previous day's meal.

The activity didn't slip past Dante's attention, and as the couple began to pack again, he confirmed his thoughts on the matter.

"_You're moving away, am I right? Is it because of me?"_

Mo Li finished wrapping a canvas bag and carefully stowed it amongst their other possessions.

"_I'm not going to lie Dante, your arrival has hastened our plans to move, but you are by no means the sole reason." _

She leaned against the cart, grateful for the short break.

"_We had hoped the war would never reach this place. But when it did yesterday, we began to prepare for a plan that has been long in place. We will head to Ba Sing Se. I have family there, willing to take us in. We've left the animals in the care of a good friend of ours. Hopefully one day, we can return here and live a peaceful life once more."_

Dante nodded in understanding. _"But by taking me in you've painted a bull's eye on your back, and I'm the primary reason."_

Mo Li signed. "_Yes, us helping you could get us into trouble, but were honest folks and you saved out our daughter, so in the end it was the least we could do."_

Dante's frown deepened, and before Mo Li could continue he produced a sizable bag of earth kingdom currency which he handed to the Woman.

"_I know you said you didn't want repayment, but please accept this for all the trouble I've caused. Traveling is expensive, believe me I know. This should hopefully cover your trip. Don't worry, I don't have much use for money, and it's not like I'm strapped for cash." _

Mu Li looked at the pouch in Dante's outstretched hand, and after a brief pause caved and accepted it with thanks.

"_I'll be heading out tomorrow"_, he stated to Moda and Hue, who had been listening in on their conversation. The smile that had graced Moda's face for most of the day faded with the news, and even Hue looked a little more stern than usual. The young man who had saved his daughter and spent a mere day on his farm reminded him of happier times when his oldest son was still helping his old man.

"'_It's unfortunate that we had to meet under these circumstances but you seem like a man on a mission, so I wish you all the best in your travels"_ Hue offered Dante his bear like hand, which the Canadian accepted with a firm shake. Next Dante gave Moda a great big hug, which did seem to cheer her up somewhat. He looked down at the shorter girl with a weak smile.

"_Cheer up Kiddo, I have a feeling we'll meet again sometime soon. Ba Sing Se is on my vacation destination list. When I'm there I'll stop by to say hi._" He rubbed the girls' shoulders in a comforting gesture. _"Sound good?"_

She nodded meekly, still fighting to keep the tears from falling.

"_Excellent. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to feed ruffles."_

Dante took his leave in order to feed his shiny new Ostrich horse for the night. Moda suggested he should start to feed the animal, in order to make it more comfortable being around a new person. Ruffles (all Dante could think about was a bag of chips) was pecking away at something interesting when the young man approached, holding a bag of feed mixed with some granola.

Mo Li and Hue observed him for a little while longer before returning to their tasks.

"_It's a shame he can't come with us. What a nice young man."_ Mo Li stated.

Hue grunted in agreement as he lifted another sack of provisions up and into the now full cart.

Night fell over the small farm, and Dante again turned on his alarm monitor before promptly falling asleep. It seemed as though he'd just closed his eyes when the little box began to squawk. Dante shot up, momentarily dazed. He took note of which sensor was going off, and his blood ran cold when it was almost all of them. Either the device was malfunctioning or shit was about to hit the fan in a big way. He hoped it was the former. Dante grabbed his rifle and tak vest before scrambling up the far too flexible wooden ladder that led to the wood and straw roof hatch. He positioned himself on the roof and engaged his low light vision googles. The dense late spring foliage became visible around the farm, but nothing could be viewed where his sensors where positioned. Next he switched to thermal.

"_Shit!"_

Dante counted dozens of signatures, all human shaped in the woods around the farm. Many were positioned behind tree trunks, but there were also plenty still getting into what looked like an attack position. He promptly thumbed the safety off his M1A, and took aim at a red and orange blob that was pointing and waving. Dante took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly before his finger overcame the three pounds of force required to release the hammer. The first shot rang out thru the quiet night, and a single vertical red blob became horizontal. Dante picked off the most promising looking targets first, namely the ones positioned in the treetops at the forests edge. These were no doubt the famous Yu An, whose archery skills we unmatched. Skill or no, they all fell equally from the 7.62 rounds whizzing thru the air. The young man swapped mags and repositioned himself to engage targets of opportunity on the other side of the farm. He ignored the oddly shaped blobs which belonged to the farm animals, and focused on the frenzy of movement in the tree line.

To the fire nation troops, it must have felt like the spirits themselves where in cohorts with the enemy. Thunderous bangs kept booming from the farmhouse, and all around their commanders and elite archers were dropping out of trees. More junior officers took over for their now dead leaders, and ordered a general attack.

Dante noticed the shift, and was already getting ready to head back inside the farm house. No sense in defending the impossible. Back inside, he was pleased to see that he was in fact alone.

Earlier that evening:

Dante was sitting with Mo Li and Hue around the kitchen table. It was shortly after dinner when Dante brought up a very important topic.

"_When Moda and I walked back, I was fairly certain that we weren't followed. However the fire nation military is no doubt aware of what happened in your village yesterday. All they need to do is get the information out of one of the villagers. There's a good chance that this place will be targeted, most likely in the night. We need an exfil plan if they do come knocking. Are either of you earth benders?" _

Both nodded with grim looks on their faces.

"_That's good. I don't want to risk your or Moda's lives, so I'm going to fight them alone."_

Hue was about to protest, but Dante elaborated. _"I know how you feel Hue, but your wife and daughter need you to get to Ba Sing Se safely. You fighting and risking your life here would be pointless."_

Hue still wasn't happy with the idea of having their guest defend them, but the thought of Mo Li and Moda alone made him accept the offer reluctantly.

"_Get your belongings away from the farm before sundown, and if you can bend a tunnel from that location to this house. If or when the time comes, run away. I'll cover your retreat and buy you time to get a solid head start."_

"_You're sure about this Dante?"_ Mo Li asked. She felt reluctant to endanger such a potentially valuable asset to the Earth Kingdom.

Dante smiled. _"I'll be fine ma'am. Your house on the other hand may not be when all is said and done" _

"_Houses can be rebuilt." _Hue chimed in. _"Just make sure you get out of there if something does happen."_

The Present:

Dante found the house deserted when he tucked back inside. He checked all of the bedrooms just in case. His pack he threw by the entrance to the tunnel because this was going to be a hot exit, quite possibly in the literal sense. Afterwards he made rounds around the house, shooting at the encroaching mob of thermal signatures from open windows. Then the fires were lit. It was unlikely that the enemy knew how his goggles worked, or even that he had them. But with the addition of fire, the thermals flared and he needed to shut them off.

The farmhouse was now completely surrounded, and basked in orange light from the dozens of flames held by the fire benders.

Dante paused, curious as to why they hadn't razed this place to the ground yet. The answer came shortly after.

"_This is Major Fang!"_ He voice bellowed from outside. Dante recognized it from the angry looking commander back in the village.

"_Surrender peacefully or face certain death!"_

Dante knew he should have killed that prick back when he had the chance. Well, he was going to rectify that mistake right now. Past the flare of the torches he identified the voice's owner outside, steadied the rifle, and shot the bastard in the face. Dante looked at the results just long enough to confirm a clean kill before booking it to the tunnel entrance. Outside shouts of _'Burn it!'_ and _'Fire!' could be heard_. Dante slipped into the tunnel as the house around him filled with smoke, and briefly wondered how things had already gone so wrong.


	4. Chapter 3: Surprise Encounter

The tunnel exited near a crossroads a good ways from the engulfed farmhouse. It was acting like a kiln now, sucking air in from the outside to feed the flames a kilometer away. He could see the glow over the darkened crowns as he emerged. There was a faint howling coming from the gaping hole in the ground as the fire greedily sucked air into it, but the noise was to faint to be heard past a few dozen feet. His pack back on, the young man was about to depart, but spotted fresh wagon tracks heading north. The surviving soldiers would find their means of escape sooner or later. No need to make it easy for them. With an evergreen branch he brushed away the fresh wagon tracks, and that would hopefully throw the Fire nation off the travelling families trail. After untying his trusty steed/fowl from a nearby tree it was time to head East!

The first few hours the unlikely duo proceeded slowly. Dante didn't want to use up his limited supply of batteries walking around the dark, so progress was slow. As dawn approached they picked up the pace, emboldened by faint outlines of the path ahead. The sky began to lighten, and as the minutes passed the color changed from an inky blue to violet and lilac. Stars began to fade, and twilight visited this small part of the world for a few brief minutes.

The young Canadian stopped for breakfast and to feed Ruffles. The creature was beginning to feel comfortable around its new master. (Dante didn't know the gender of the bird, and he wasn't about to check) The creature was an odd sight, considering the closest bird in size back home was an Ostrich. They looked intimidating at first with the large beak and sharp talons, but Moda's continued encouragement to both Dante and the bird showed just how domesticated the animals were.

The landscape remained much the same as they day progressed, but progress was being made. The trail was well worn, and in some places was wide enough to fit a car had there been any around. Dante hadn't considered that other people might be traveling on this road as well until he passed a set of four middle aged looking men. They wore earth kingdom tunics, but there was something off about these guys. He saw no reason why these people were traveling without any provisions, and all looked too fit to be merchants or travelers. With the rifle slung over his back it would take several seconds to bring to bear effectively. He kept walking along casually, while the left hand traveled to his side and inconspicuously popped open the sidearm holster. Counting to three the Canadian spun, crouched, and pulled his USP in one smooth motion, but to his surprise the four men were no longer behind him.

Movement alerted him to the tree line on the right, and he had just enough time to avoid the basketball sized boulder that whizzed by. Without even determining where his attackers were the young man nimbly rolled to the side before more rocks zipped thru the air. Pistol still in hand, he loosened 2 rounds towards their general direction. Both shots missed, but the action bought enough time to give Ruffles a good smack on the rear and bolt off behind it. Dante could hear rocks scraping behind him, and ran in a zig zag motion in order to avoid more of the hard terra. The idea was to gain some space between him and his attackers, and then to pick them off at a safe distance. After a hard 30 second sprint that left him winded, Dante spun around and unslung the long arm. The assailants had not followed behind as he'd hoped, and the young man was left to wonder what the hell just happened. He spotted Ruffles a ways down the path, and jogged to the agitated bird. Mounting quickly, the ostrich horse went into a full gallop, eager to get away from the immediate area. Throughout the rest of the morning Dante checked his six while maintaining a pace he deemed sufficient enough for any potential pursuers to be unable to catch up.

That evening camp was made a good half kilometer from the trail out of fear of being attacked in his sleep. The location ensured him a clear line of sight with lots of distance between camp and the sensors. The night passed without incident, and the next morning Dante was back on the road. His pack was once again on Ruffles, but his rifle was now constantly at the ready, just in case.

They walked all day without any real break, so when the trail ran parallel to a good sized stream he wasted no time shedding his heavy footwear and soaking his aching feet in the cool water. Ruffles was also grateful for the water source, and Dante took the load from the birds back before returning his attention to his abused feet.

The sensation he'd felt when running along the river's edge a few days back returned. He'd completely forgotten about it until now. The proximity to the water flooded his mind like a sixth sense. the way it moved and swirled around, faster in the center, slower by the sides. It was all visible in a way that went beyond simple sight. The water moved around things. Rocks, sticks, whatever was in the water he could imagine in his mind. It was so strange.

Then it hit him. Was this what bending felt like? It was common for participants of reaping's to gain abilities while emerged in their chosen reality. Of the few that survived in the past six years a handful have gained extraordinary abilities. Was this his? It only happened with water. Fire, air, the ground; none gave him this feeling except for water.

Dante wasn't sure of what to make of this. He removed his feet from the water and sat down underneath a nearby tree. Bending was something he'd never imagined. The idea was always to drive a bullet through the Fire lords head and call it a day. Yesterday's little 'incident' however showed that he was woefully unprepared for close quarter bending combat, despite having firearms. He would need to learn this skill if in fact he actually had it.

"_Well, only one way to find out."_

He sat up and returned to the streams edge. Not quite sure of what to do, he held out his hand and concentrated on making the water move any way possible. Nothing seemed different. Maybe with a smaller amount of water there would be a better result?

The young man pulled a metal cup from his pack. After filling it by the creek, he sat down cross-legged and placed it on the grass, waiting for the water to become still. That done, he once again tried to coax the water into moving using his mind.

'_Nothing'_, he concluded after observing the liquid. _'Well, so much for that.'_

When getting up however, the young Canuck was surprised when the water sloshed out of the same cup and froze in midair.

'_How the hell did that happen?'_ He stood above the cup, and tried to thaw the ice within. Again nothing happened. What had he done when getting up? Mimicking the motion from before while concentrating on melting the ice, it instantly liquefied and fell back into the cup.

'_Of course", _he realized with a smack to the forehead._ "All benders use motions to manipulate their element.'_

…

Holy Shit! He was a bender!

Eager to try his newfound abilities on something larger, he filled Ruffles water dish to the brim and set it on a flat rock. With a sweeping hand motion, the bowl froze…and so did half the creek. Ruffles beak almost fell victim to his inexperience were it not for animal instinct, and the bird gave its human companion an unimpressed squawk.

"_Whoops",_ he said innocently.

Clearly he needed practice. But the discovery overshadowed that he was terrible at it. For the next hour, Dante kept himself occupied by freezing and unfreezing various parts of the creek. Before he knew it the sun was starting to set, forcing him to end his fun. Once again camp was moved into the woods for the night, but he was eager to push the limits of his new power more the next day.

oOo

Major Liang Fang woke up in a strange environment. His surroundings were bright. To bright. He attempted to focus his sight on something, anything, but the harsh glare and fact that he'd been out for a long time made the task difficult. Liang remembered the farmhouse, the fires, and his ultimatum to the occupants inside. The events thereafter eluded his memory. Fang began to sit up, but found that his body was weak. And then there was this dull pain, a sort of throbbing emanating from his face. For the first time the Fire bender became aware that there was something seriously wrong with his mouth. Prodding the area with his tongue was a bad idea. The dull pain spiked, replaced by a sharp kind that made him gasp for air.

Frustrated, he settled back against the soft plush pillow that supported his head.

The noise must have alerted someone, because a heavily silhouetted figure now hovered over the bandaged man. The Major couldn't decipher what the obscured person was saying, but after a few more seconds it mattered not. A soothing sensation came over him, the pain in his face and the aches in his limbs faded away, allowing Liang to drift into a dreamless sleep.

oOo

On the third day of traveling Dante arrived at another small village, similar to the one he'd accidentally helped raze. The folks that lived there seemed to cater to travelers along this and a few other routes. Apparently the name of the place, Shízìlù kǒu even meant crossroads in earth kingdom. That meant lots of eateries, and more than one general store. The wary traveler was eager to resupply after three days on the road, and looked forward to a hot meal. (He'd forgone campfires out of fear of being tracked) The strangely dressed foreigner drew the attention of everyone he came across, despite the locals being used to a variety of people stopping through. Dante took it in stride. He didn't really care about what people thought. The only concern he had was being identified so easily. He needed to blend in, especially with the fire nation and another as of yet unknown party out to get him. Despite his protesting stomach, the young man walked into a promising looking establishment after tying ruffles up outside. He marveled over the craftsmanship of the items, and resisted buying useless stuff. In the end he selected a dark green cloak with a large hood and a smaller cloth bag to cover his pack. The shop owner was sticking to him like a fly to you know what despite his repeated frowns meant to deter him. Maybe theft was a big problem in the town. He hadn't seen a policing system in this world yet, and the army couldn't possibly be doing this sort of work with an ongoing war.

Dante finished by selecting a large quantity of rice and dried meats before the real fun began. The owner obviously expected money, but Dante quickly caught his interest when he produced a few cheap BIC lighters. After a brief demonstration, the guy was practically salivating over them. Spark rocks were fine and dandy, but making an open flame like a fire bender was new. Dante had to convince the owner to try it himself because he was sure the stranger was a fire bender. In the end what would have cost a small bag of silver pieces was acquired for a half dozen cheap plastic lighters.

Happy with his bartering skills, Dante donned his new cloak and headed for a promising looking food cart to satisfy his hunger. Unsure of what to get, he ordered the special (funny how stuff like that stayed the same from his world to this) and began to listen to the small talk around him.

"… _and then he slew the entire fire nation company safe for a handful of men!"_

"_No way"_, the other said in dismissal. _"I've never heard of any kind of weapon like that. Besides…"_

Dante slipped his rifle off his back as inconspicuously as possible and rested it on the inside of his shoulder. _'No need to add fuel on this rumor mill'_, he thought with a nervous smile.

The conversation turned to the state of the war; battles won and lost, more of the latter for the EK army. Dante received his meal with thanks from the cook/server and began to chow down. It seemed to be pig chicken with some tubers and rice. Not a bad dish. He'd come to like pig chicken in the week or so he'd been here. Towards the end of his meal he paused, his attention drawn to the column of green clad troops that marched thru town. They wore the standard earth kingdom army armor, a green split poncho style outer tunic followed by a brownish green inner one, and of course the large round hats. They looked intimidating enough. Dante swallowed his current bite, and nudged the gossiping villagers' side with his elbow to get his attention.

"_Hey buddy, where are these guys headed?"_ he asked with mild interest.

"_Huh? Oh, those are reinforcements for the local garrison stationed up on that hill over there."_ Dante's head followed the man's pointing arm to said hill. It didn't look like there was anything up there, but that's earth benders for ya. May as well use the terrain to your advantage.

"_By the way, who are you stranger?" _ the man inquired suspiciously.

Dante finished his meal and deposited a square coin on the table before shouldering his pack. _"Just another traveler passing thru."_

And with that he led ruffles away, back towards the main road to _Ling Shau._

* * *

The original Chapter was way too long, so I split it into two. So, Dante found out he's a bender. It was always my intention to make him one. Without bending he'd be at a disadvantage, even with the advanced gear. I therefore truly respect Sokka for fighting in this war without any offensive skills besides a boomerang. The fact that he has two left feet and still survived is mind boggling, though I suspect his friends had much to do with that.


	5. Chapter 4: The road less traveled

Dante had left Shízìlù kǒu about half an hour ago according to his watch. Ruffles was again carrying his heavy pack, leaving him to shoulder the rifle in a semi ready state. The trail he previously traveled on widened into a busy artery that ran through the district. He counted dozens of carts full of wares, several carriages (containing royalty no doubt), and even more foot travelers such as himself. His cloak kept prying eyes at bay, though the wood and metal stick still drew far too much attention for his liking. He'd passed two army checkpoints already, meaning he was now well into earth kingdom controlled territory. The young Canadian was relieved. The fire nation military was no doubt looking for him after the last encounter, and he was keen to stay below the radar until he at least rounded up the group. For now the fire nation would not be a problem.

Life had other plans in store for him however as the same four thugs he had the pleasure of dealing with crossed paths with him. His hood was up, but the distinct shape of both his pack and gun gave him away. Their posture changed, indicating a grounded earth bending stance. Dante wasted no time and gunned down the first with a pair of shots at center mass. The rest pulled up walls of earth around them, and for the 4th time in under a week Dante found himself in hot water. Pieces of the earth bender's cover dislodged and raced across the trail with impressive speed. The water bender rolled to the side to avoid the hail of rocks, took aim, and squeezed of another shot before rising. The round ricocheted off the stone next to one of the combatants, causing him to back up behind his wall. More boulders flew his way which were easily dodged. He kept the rifle trained on the wall as he moved to flank around the side. He was surprised that they hadn't attacked more forcefully, and that they knew to pull up solid cover against his weapons. The last encounter couldn't have taught them that much about him, right?

The remaining three combatants remained behind their barrier, unaware of their exposed side. He managed to wound another in the shoulder before more walls blocked his line of sight. The earth beneath his feet shook, and at the last second he backpedalled before a series of sharp jagged rocks jutted from the soil. This was getting out of hand. The young Canuck pulled open a Velcro pouch and produced a flash grenade. He was wary of taking any more lives, much less earth kingdom citizen ones. He needed their support down the road if he was going to eliminate the Fire lord.

Lobbing the grenade minus the pin over the wall, the young man quickly made his way to his ostrich horse. The rains were in his hands as it went off, but he calmed the bird in quickly before mounting and galloping away. It was prudent to have kept the engagement short as EK regulars from the checkpoint nearby passed to investigate the commotion.

Dante pushed ruffles hard for the next hour. He felt bad for the creature, but it was likely that horse mounted patrol would be dispatched to find him, and he wanted to be off this road as soon as possible. Back in Shízìlù kǒu he'd asked if there was an alternate route to the coastal city. The main road was great and all, but it was good to know you have options. It turned out there was, however that route had been long deserted in favour of the shorter current road and was only used by trappers. There were no places to re-provision, and part of the territory straddled fire nation controlled parts of the continent.

Dante was sure that his movements were being tracked by an unknown element after this last encounter, and he was keen to disappear despite the apparent risks and delay. On a piece of paper was written the approximate location of the entrance to this hidden path, and he reckoned it should be getting close.

"_Let's see, '220 paces after passing a rock that looks like Tigerdillo."_ Dante had never seen a Tigerdillo, but he pictured the two in his head as a foggy mix. Scanned the sides of the dirt road for another ten minutes, he found something that could look like the animal.

'_Boy, the guy I got directions from sure has a lively imagination'_, he thought after giving the rock another questioning look.

'_That or he was smoking something really strong'_

He began to count his steps, slowing down near two hundred to start scanning the vegetation to the left for gaps or signs of use. It was hard to see, but there it was. Saplings and tall bushes had filled in a larger gap between mature trees. He looked around, careful not to be spotted by any passersby before entering the mostly forgotten trail.

For the first hundred meters the traveller was careful not to disturb the vegetation to much in case a tracker managed to find the hidden path. Progress improved as the forest grew thicker and less light was able to filter thru to the newer growth sprouting around him, but far too often there would be a fallen tree trunk that would force them to walk around. Ostrich horses did not like to jump it seemed. It was clear that the route hadn't been maintained in quite some time and a mere hour later it was obvious that he'd need to make camp soon. The sun was low in the sky, or so he thought because the sun wasn't visible. The thick forest grew darker by the minute. This was nothing like that first night. The trees around him were mature and densely packed. Dante stopped at the first spot large enough accommodate the tent, and quickly harvested dead tree limbs using the back of his small hatchet for a fire. Angel hair or Old man's beard grew in abundance here, and he picked a few handfuls for tinder. He'd need to make sure the fire didn't grow too large lest he burn the whole forest to the ground. It lit quickly and required little supervision, allowing him to set up the tent while a pot of rice cooked over the flames. Lights went out at quarter after nine if the wrist watch was to be taken seriously. It felt good to sleep in the tent, and inside a warm sleeping bag. The last few days had been less than stellar, but a good night's rest and full stomach would surly help.

Dante didn't wake until late morning the next day, but felt well rested and in good spirits. Over the next two days however he became increasingly grumpy. His legs were sore, he was tired of the endless forest making his journey harder, and soon began to wonder if this trail actually led him in the right direction. Hell, even a change of scenery would be welcome. The forest however continued, and Dante began to realize why the adjacent road was built. This mountain trail messes with your head. The few days he'd been here felt like weeks. If it weren't for the wristwatch, he'd have believed it too.

It was early morning into his fourth day of traveling when he came across a sizable lake nestled in the valley of what he'd dubbed the Forbidden forest. It was pristine, clean, and reminded him of his native British Columbia. Hell, the view in front of him could be Wells Gray provincial Park or any of the dozen or so like it in the province. The thought depressed him despite the serene beauty and the homesick young man sighed.

"_Well Big Bird, we may as well make the most of this. How bout a good long rest?"_

He'd started talking to Ruffles a few days back. Some would call it weird, but back when he was a kid he'd always talk to the family dog. He unsaddled the steed and set up camp. It felt good not to have to walk for once, and his feet were soothed by the refreshing cool water. Dante hadn't practiced bending since the first time by the creek. After stripping to his boxers he wading into the water. The water was clear but not very warm. Swaying back and forth, he managed to make ripples in the otherwise mirror like surface of the lake. Anything more advanced was hit and miss. Specific body movements translated into what actions the water would make. He almost had the basic concept of levitating small quantities of liquid around himself by late morning. Dante broke for lunch, pleased that at least there wasn't such a thing as mosquitos here. If this was Canada, they'd have flown off with him by now.

Ruffles had pecked around camp in search of tasty beetles and worms for most of the morning, but was now lying close to shore and watching its handler. Hours passed far too quickly, but progress was steady. Dante was confident with controlling a sizable amount of water, and had begun to get creative. He was currently submerged up to his chest standing on a large rock far out from shore. The surface was slick, but he felt comfortable enough to go through the motions. Being submerged in the element, his element, gave him a sight he'd never experienced back home. The gentle currents, the lake bed, even the fish, he could feel it all as long as the proximity was right. And thus the reason for his current location became apparent. The Water bender sensed a fish approach, going diagonally from 7 o'clock to 4 o'clock a mere five meters from the rock. He gently spun, and took control of the water around it. The fish noticed, and struggled to break free. Dante felt its power, substantial for a creature the size of his forearm. He fought against it, and realizing the fish was about to break free, froze the thing solid in a foot of ice. The block popped out of the water like a cork! The fish looked like a trout, but who knew what it actually was. Regardless, it was going to supplement tonight's dinner nicely.

The next day it was time to hit the road once more. The daylong break had done wonders for his body and mind. But the best thing was that he could now use his bending for useful things. It was still a very long ways from being useful for combat, but for now he settled on being able to feed himself.

How did that old proverb go again? _'Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and he can feed himself for life.'_ Well, Dante had discovered the proverbial fishing rod. The thought amused him.

The forest cleared not long after, and gave way to rolling grasslands. Water seemed to become scarcer, and Dante filled his camelpak in addition to usual canteens at a small brook. He wasn't sure at how good ostrich horses were at conserving water, and the damn bird had started to grow on him too much to let die, hence why he was filling the larger pack. The open terrain meant that he could ride the bird instead of walking with it. The sheer distance you could see worried him a little, especially because this was fire nation controlled territory.

He rode past large earth disks both whole and shattered, remnants of a long ago battle. It was an eerie reminder of the persistent problems in this world. A shiver ran down his spine, perhaps because of all the dead that rested a few feet underground, their souls having met so violent a death. He shrugged it off, and occupied himself by rummaging through his pack in search of some binoculars. Spotting crimson against the cream coloured scenery shouldn't be too hard. He did this every few kilometers, and constantly scanned the surrounding ridges for any sign of trouble. The clouds moved briskly across the sky, casting parts of the plains into deep shadows.

Hours later, the wind began to pick up and the smell of rain marked the coming of a storm. Dante rode a little further, hoping to make it to a more isolated area where his bright tent wouldn't stand out so much. It took ten minutes to set up, and managed to toss his gear inside just as the first strong gust signalled the storms arrival. Rain came down hard, soaking the semiarid ground in seconds. His location placed him in the center of a worrying amount of water. It seemed in his haste to remain hidden, he'd selected a tributary for the surrounding hills. Packing up his tent would take too long, and the water was beginning to rush past, picking up soil in ever-increasing quantities.

Dante took control of as much as possible and froze it solid. Again and again he froze the torrent that was now bearing down on them. Ruffles squawked nervously, clearly signalling to its companion that it didn't like where they were at the moment. The mud and ice layer was already a good foot tall, and its pointed tip split the rushing mass in two like the bow of a ship. He froze until he was exhausted, but his icy dike held. The rain left as fast as it came and with it the raging river of mud. Dante's knees buckled. The experience left him shaken. He'd never have thought flash flooding like this could happen here. The ground didn't show previous signs of erosion. Was it a freak storm? Either way, he'd never bent this hard before. It was exhausting, different from a gym workout, but with the same effects. His muscles burned, and he was short of breath. Spots filled his vision, and dizziness soon followed.

With the last ounce of energy he could muster, the fatigued Water bender pulled the water off himself and his feathery friend before crawling into the tent. Seconds later the young Canadian was asleep.

oOo

Less than a kilometer away the head of the Rough Rhinos was shaking the water from his soaked tunic with an annoyed grumble. His impressive looking handlebar mustache still dripped occasionally while his mostly shaven head was already dry. Colonel Mongke looked around to see his men do the same. The rain had come as a surprise, although a welcome one. They were in dire need of water, having traveled across the Si Wong desert for the past four days. The reason for this unusual and extremely dangerous journey was a new bounty, placed by the Southern Army Groups Deputy commander. The sum was impressive, especially for a newbie, as he liked to call first time bounty holders. Mongke had no idea what the kid had done to earn himself such an impressive sum, but to him it looked like easy money. They were aware of the targets approximate location and direction. The general consensus was that he was heading to the Port City of _Ling Shau,_ which was still under EK control. They had a limited window to catch this guy, and he'd be damned if he let the Seebee's get him first, asuming he was in the port city to catch a boat.

The groups Komodo Rhinos where eagerly sucking up the muddy liquid from the various puddles that now dotted their surroundings. The Colonel frowned. They were close to an abandoned trail; the same one believed that the stranger was observed to have entered close to Shízìlù kǒu. The deputy commander had insisted that the sighting was authentic. But there was a good chance the rain had ruined any tracks they might have otherwise been able to use. Once they located it, it would be a 50% chance of finding their target. Not the best odds. Mongke ordered his men to mount up and continued southeast.

Upon discovery of the worn path, he made the fateful decision to go further east, towards the coast. The former fire nation soldier reasoned that if the outsider had come past here, they'd hopefully catch up before he entered back into EK territory. If not, they would lie in wait until he did.

All this happened with a certain bounty holder snoring away a mere few hundred yards to the West, blissfully unaware of just how close a call it had been.

oOo

The next morning Dante woke up Bleary Eyed. His arms and legs felt sore, and he had a pounding headache. To sum it up, it was a great start to the day. He went through the motions of his morning routine with the addition of tossing back a couple of Advil to take the edge off the thousand elephants tap-dancing in his head. But not even two minutes into his journey an unnatural sight made him pause.

Tracks.

He dismounted with a grunt and walked up to the circular indentations in the soft damp soil. These were made very recently, after the rain if he had to guess. Whatever made these was very big and heavy. He also spotted human shoe prints close by. They concentrated in one area right next to the trail. This ruled out nomadic herding, and suggested mounted men (or women). The realization made his blood run cold. A few hundred meters away was his old campsite. If they had come across it, he would have been most likely dead or captured.

Whomever these people were, Dante didn't want to run into them. Chances were it was a fire nation patrol, so staying on the trail was no longer an option. He pulled out his maps and studied the surrounding terrain. The plains he currently stood on extended far into the mainland and gradually turned into from semi-arid to desert terrain. Between his current position and the newly built road lay a mountain region. He could see it faintly in the distance, dark gray masses with white capped peaks. Going over those seemed like a bad idea. He'd rather duke it out with whatever laid ahead than cross that.

But there seemed to be a third option. The transition region between plains and mountains. All he needed to do was travel along the base of the range about forty kilometers due southeast. It was going to be a day to get there, and possibly another two in extra time spent navigating the terrain. Not ideal, but with every encounter the enemy gleaned more information about him and his weapons. He needed to get to the South Pole. Why couldn't the damn Overseers have dropped him off there? Why hadn't he asked for a bloody off-roader or even a dirt bike with two full jerry cans? For the next hour Dante daydreamt off all the preferable ways to get places in his world that didn't involve bipedal locomotion. At least the Advil had kicked in. Now it only felt like one tap-dancing elephant up there.

oOo

Despite not being a fire bender Dante had always thrown off a lot of body heat. With a steady diet of rich western food and mild exercise, that had equated to a steady weight of seventy kilograms, or 154 pounds. But now he walked the better part of 12 hours a day every day, and when he wasn't moving his bending practice ate up a lot of his energy reserves as well. As a result his caloric requirements nearly tripled. Eating that much food on the road was nigh impossible, and as a result his weight began to plummet. It wasn't noticeable at first, but putting one foot in front of the next gave him a lot of free time. He was _'literary' _going to run himself into the ground if this continued. The young traveller had spotted some game animals way off in the distance a few times over the last week. Maybe it was time to stop for a hunt. The thought of roasted meat made the travellers mouth water. Luck was on his side for once when a small group of four legged animals crossed paths with the meat craving traveller. It didn't take long to bag one of the animals. Processing it was another matter.

One of the things Dante had brought along was a book. Not the first choice for someone who had to carry every pound of gear on his back. But this book was worth its weight in gold. It contained instructions on outdoor survival, compiled thru hours of web searches. He was currently leafing through the pages looking for ways to build a drying rack. The fire sizzled every few seconds when the fat and grease from the Moose Deer hind quarter dripped off, reminding him to turn the spit every so often. The hybrid animal had several hundred pounds of usable meat, too much to eat by himself. He'd select the best cuts to smoke into dry jerky. The rest, as wasteful as it seemed would go to the predators that roamed these parts. The meat smelt delicious, and the novice hunter hoped the game taste wasn't too strong.

He pushed the extra two rounds of .308 Win out of the magazine and placed them back in the cardboard box. These had been brought along just for hunting. The full metal jacket 7.62's were unsuitable for big game, greatly lessening the chance for a clean kill. He snorted at the irony of it all. So hunting game with military ammo was inhumane, but against other people it was ok?

After a truly amazing dinner it was maintenance time. The rifle needed to be oiled and cleaned after each firing, though with only one shot fired a light oiling would suffice. That completed the leftovers were frozen, to be thawed when camp was packed up tomorrow morning. No senses in letting it attract predators during the night.

There was faint rumbling in the distance, no doubt another storm cell passing thru. A quick glance towards the North West confirmed it. It wouldn't pass overhead, but the sight of so much rain falling made him a little nervous none the less. With a sigh he watched the setting sun then pulled a piece of paper and pen from the pack, marking a neat line next to several others.


	6. Chapter 5: From Hot Water to Salt Water

It had been seventeen days since twenty-four year old Dante Webber had been plucked from his kitchen in Kamloops, British Columbia and deposited in the Avatar verse. Seventeen days of hoofing it over hundreds of miles of dirt paths, and most recently not even that. But at last, he had arrived. No more walking for the next while, 'cause he was going to be on a boat soon!

Before him stretched the bustling port city of Ling Shau_. _It was early evening; the sun was low on the Western Horizon, warming his back and casting the city in a warm orange glow. Dante took a memento shot with his camera before making his way down gloriously paved road that ended by the city gate. Despite the great ankle support his boots offered, he was oh so glad to finally be standing on something relatively flat and hard again.

At the gate the guards prompted him for ID, which was casually handed over like he'd done it a million times before. Technically that was true. These guys' faces looked no different from the customs agents in airports. Bored and indifferent.

The only difference was that these papers were forged. Part of the comprehensive list submitted to the overseers was an assortment of identification papers for both the EK and the FN. According to the piece of paper currently in the guards' hands he was Quin Lee of Omashu. In the show this name belonged to the poor SOB who got thrown out of an airship courtesy of Sokka. Dante got a sick kick out of using this identity for some reason. Call it Schadenfreude if you want.

The Canadian didn't expect any problems with his friendly smile and polite responses, but was still pleasantly surprised when he gained access to the city without any hassle. Finally, no more worrying about fire nation or bandits. All he had to do now was be wary of pickpockets. The M1A was now concealed with a cloth bag strapped to his pack. The cloak kept curious eyes away. Here he was just another person. Deciding it was too late to head to port he sought out the nicer part of town and rented a room in an Inn. Ruffles was deposited in the stable and given an apple as incentive for behaving. Dante left his pack concealed under a pile of hay with the bird. He didn't trust the innkeeper, but wasn't about to lug around 80 pounds of gear for dinner either. Unlike the previous two villages inland, this place had a lively feel to it. Darkness had descended not too long ago, but the city was alive and bustling with activity. Shops were still open, their owners attempting to coax potential buyers into entering them. The curious traveler casually walked down the main street, keeping an eye out for a good place to eat.

He steered clear of taverns. Chances were they didn't serve anything but liquor, and he didn't want to risk getting into an altercation. His feet led him to a bustling two story building with a large open patio. The place looked packed, but he managed to bypass a few larger groups after telling the waitress he was alone. Again he marveled at how similar customs were. _'Some things just don't change no matter where you go'_, he thought.

Another waitress took his order, which happened to be the special again. _'I should really learn some basic Earth Kingdom text'_, he thought before passing the menu back to the girl with a smile. Afterwards Dante just sat there. He was tempted to pull out his cell phone for a round of Angry Birds or maybe tower defense, but caught himself after brushing against the device. Just for a moment he forgot where he was, and slipped back into his old world habits. The Canadian leaned back in the chair and sighed deeply, the reminder dampening his previously good mood.

Thoughts of how to approach tomoorow displaced any lingering feeling about home.

'_I needed to think of a way to hitch a ride to the southern water tribe. It's not like there was regular ferry service to the damn place, so it was going to have to be a merchant ship.'_ While he was mulling over how to bribe his way onto a ship when a busty looking earth kingdom woman deposited herself in the seat opposite his. He looked up with raised eyebrows but held his tongue.

The girl gave him a passing glance before looking on to the rowdy bunch of sailors a few tables away.

"_Do people not introduce themselves where you're from stranger?"_ she asked casually.

Dante's eyebrows rose further, but his brain/mouth filter finally failed him.

"_People don't normally sit down at a random person's table where I'm from…stranger."_

'_Who the hell is this chick?'_

She snorted. _"Well, the names Maria"_

Dante remained silent. She obviously expected a reply, though he wasn't about to give her one.

"_Well, aren't you going to tell me yours?" _

"_Afraid not Sugar", he retorted. "Now, what business do you have with me?"_ Dante folded his arms.

She huffed. Obviously things weren't going as intended for her. When she didn't answer, he took a not so shot in the dark.

"_You sit down and try to strike up a conversation, in a restaurant no less. A tavern I can picture, but not here. I don't look rich, and I don't stand out."_ Steel blue eyes pierced her brown ones. _"So why did you do it?"_ His question sounded like a statement. _"I'm thinking you recognized me, and the only place I can think of is that board down the street." _He was referring of course to the wanted poster section. Dante had already discreetly taken down his from a half dozen or so around town. He'd hoped that in a place like this there wouldn't be any bounty hunters, but he guessed wrong. The strange thing was that the Earth Kingdom had issued this wanted poster, not the fire nation as he would have expected. It confirmed the doubts he had about those bandits. The Earth Kingdom was actually looking for him. Why he knew not, but this little miss here was the first step in finding out.

She looked white as a sheet, her lips pressed together tightly.

Dante continued. _"Right now I have a very powerful weapon pointed at you. It will kill you instantly if you try to flee."_ Her eyes widened in terror. _"If you answer my questions, I'll let you go and no harm will come to you." _

Maria nodded meekly.

"_Good. Now tell me, do you know who put the bounty on my head?"_

There was a long pause before she looked up.

"_The only people who'd pay this kind of coin for a target are the EKIS."_

"_EKIS?"_ He inquired, trying to hide the growing interest.

She gave him a surprised look. _"The Earth Kingdom Intelligence Service"_

Dante was surprised with her answer. He knew of the Dai Li, which were kind of like the Gestapo of Ba Sing Se. But this seemed to be a completely different organization.

"_Who are they? What do they do?"_ his questions became more direct, more demanding. Maria shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

"_They gather information from all over the world, and then compile it somewhere secret to incorporate into battle strategy for the Earth kingdom armed forces. It's the only reason we haven't lost to the fire nation's superior technology."_

Dante's head jerked up. The last comment explained everything. Why he'd been perused almost from day one. They wanted his tech. Someone must have reported what happened after he disposed of the fire nation battalion in that village.

"_Son of a bitch"_, he whispered. _"Now it all made sense."_

The girl looked worried. Dante decided to ask one more question before she got to squirrely.

"_Do you work alone?"_ Her fidgeting was beginning to concerned him.

"_Yes"_, she answered.

Just then he felt her pulse quicken. Dante didn't even know he could sense that sort of thing. But there was no time to come to terms with this realization. The last answer was obviously a lie. Dante jumped into action, having already selected a potential exfil route when he walked into the restaurant. There was movement in his peripheral after jumping from the seat, but no time to turn and look before 200lbs of solid muscle tackled him around the waist and took him down. Dante did all he could not to drop the HK, and managed to get it on target as the man pulled back his arm to punch him from above. Two loud bangs echoed thru the eatery and the guy slumped over him, unmoving. Dante's ears were ringing, but he pushed thru the confusion and muscled the beef cake of a man off with some effort. A second thug was bearing down on him, holding what appeared to be a large blade. He too was felled with a shot to the head. Screams filled the air inside the restaurant. The female merc. had stood up, but hadn't moved in an aggressive manner, which was the only reason why he hadn't iced her too.

Outside Dante quickly pulled the hood of his cloak up, seamlessly integrating with the evening crowd on the street. Two blocks away he slipped into an alleyway. With shaking hands he thumbed the pistol's safety back on and tucked it into its holster.

"_Fuck!"_ He'd just wasted another two people, their blood on his hands. Why hadn't he just laid low instead of waltzing into an eatery and shooting two lowly thugs?

'_Way to go Knucklehead!'_

Coming down from an adrenaline high was always the worst. Drug addicts must feel like this, except much worse. He felt like puking, even though his stomach was empty. He was dazed enough that he didn't notice her until she placed her hand on his shoulder.

Dante spun around, backed up, and pulled his gun in an instant.

Before him stood the very female merc who'd tried to 'chat him up' a mere five minutes ago.

"_What the hell do you want?"_ he growled. He wasn't in the mood for the calm and collected routine.

The girl raised her hands defensively._ "Wait! I'm not here to try and capture you. I just wanted to say thanks." _She was tense, but her body language told him an attack was unlikely.

Dante kept the gun trained on her none the less, but nodded his head for her to continue.

She elaborated. _"Those guys were scum. I didn't choose this life you know."_

The click from the hammer being lowered echoed thru the alley, causing the Woman to flinch. The water bender sat down on a crate, arms resting on his knees, and indicated his willingness to listen.

Taking the hint, the brunette told her brief story.

"_My father was a wealthy businessman, or so I was told. I was seven when he was killed. They took me with them, and made me their personal servant. I only found out later that my father had gotten caught up with some nasty people who not only wanted him dead, they wanted him to know that he'd forfeit the life of his child as well. _

_I'm really very grateful for what you did. Please, if there's anything I can do…"_

She pushed her arms together, squishing her 'assets' around seductively.

"_Don't! Just…no."_ Dante leaned back, his head lightly thudding against the damp stone wall.

"_I appreciate the offer, but you really shouldn't be doing something like that. It's unbecoming of a young woman like yourself. Besides, I'm married." _He tapped his ring finger against the side of the HK's grip, producing an audible clank.

Maria gazed at the piece of metal on his finger.

"_I see. Is that how you signify marriage where you're from?"_ Dante followed her stare to his hand, and grunted in confirmation.

"_Where are you from anyway? You have blue eyes, but your skin is light."_

Dante mulled the question over, not sure whether to humor her or not.

"_My dad was Water tribe, my mother Earth Kingdom. I was raised in the northern part of the continent."_

At least his cover story had improved. Before she could retort he added;

"_There is one thing you might be able to help me with" _he said, referring to her earlier offer. She smiled mischievously, and as though he could read her thoughts added;_ "No, not anything like that. I'm looking to get on a merchant ship, specifically one to the south. Do you know anyone doing a run that way in the near future?"_

Maria remembered someone, but his name eluded her.

"_It was a few months ago, during a swap. Whoever the guy was, the bounty called for him to be delivered alive to a man by the docks. It was an older guy, always playing Pai sho. We dropped the guy off and collected. He had a cargo boat and said Ling Shau was his home port. He invited me to a game of Pai Sho if I ever felt up to it."_

Dante liked what he heard. An old man who liked to play Pai Sho. There was a good chance that the guy was a member of the Lotus. If this lead panned out, it would make his life a whole lot easier.

"_Could you take me to his ship?"_ he asked cautiously.

Maria bit her lower lip, an old habit of hers when she was thinking.

"_Yeah, but we should swing around the west end of town. There are probably Soldiers and Dai Li looking for you."_

"_The Dai Li are here?"_ Dante couldn't conceal the surprise in his voice. _"I thought they only operated in Ba Sing Se." _

"_No. About a week ago they sent a contingent of agents here to keep an eye on the growing number of refugees flooding into the city. They fear that amongst them are fire nation spies."_

It didn't make sense. The Dai Li were responsible for preserving the cultural heritage of Ba Sing Se, and Ba Sing Se alone. They would have sent the EKIA here if they were concerned about spies. Then there was the timing. A mere week ago they arrived. _"You're sure it was a week?" _

"_Yes, I'm positive"_, she replied.

No, something was definitely going on, and he had a feeling it was because of him. He may not have much time. It was clear he needed to get out of the Ling Shau as soon as possible.

"_Slight change of plan. I'm heading back to the Inn to retrieve the rest of my gear. Afterwards we go to the dock."_

Maria nodded in agreement.

Dante was worried about the Dai Li's arrival. They were formidable fighters, fast, cunning, and above all ruthless. He hoped that it wouldn't come to a fight. He was tired of having to take lives just to continue with his plan. He should have left that village alone. None of this would be happening if he hadn't intervened. The Canuck shook his head slowly.

'_No, what's done is done. No sense crying over spilt milk…unless its Chuck Norris's milk. Cause then you dead.'_

'_Stop it brain, now's not the time for Chuck Norris jokes!'_

As they came close to where the Inn was located he paused. One of the telltale hats favored by the Dai Li could be seen casting shadows on the cobblestone road ahead. Sentries, no doubt waiting for him to return. He counted two. Both were concealed, far enough apart as to not be neutralized at once, and had direct lines of sights to one another, making taking them out individually impossible.

Dante bit his nail. How to approach this? The pistol could take them if he had the silencer, but the damn thing was in his pack back in the stable. Dante motioned for Maria to be silent with a finger over his mouth, and went to a nearby barrel, pulling a good sized quantity of water around his arms. The earth kingdom girl looked at him with wide eyes. Water Benders were rare nowadays. All there ever seemed to be was earth and fire. It didn't surprise him. In the week and a half since discovering his ability, he'd practiced rigorously to gain an acceptable amount of control over 'his' element. It was by no means mastery, but he reckoned it was good enough to bring to fight to a pair of unsuspecting Dai Li. If things went south, he could always go loud. In addition to the almost full mag currently in his pistol he had two spares, enough to get by whatever lay ahead.

Dante hugged the wall, careful to remain within the shadows as he closed on the first unsuspecting agent. His heart was thumping in his chest, and there was a noticeable throb in his neck. He ignored both, and focused on how to take his target down. Maria had hung back, ready to back up the stranger whose name she still knew not. Dante waited a few more seconds, the tension in his body now almost unbearable. The small opportunity he was waiting for presented itself in the form of a turn of the earth benders head.

He pounced, striking like a coiled snake and guiding the water on his left arm directly towards the man's face at an incredible speed. The torrent of water flooded through the man's nose, his mouth and milliseconds later into his lungs. Dante then ripped every joule of heat energy from the water as fast as possible. The result was hair raising, but he was already busy engaging the second target, who had turned to face the oncoming threat. The second rush of water wasn't as accurate because of the longer distance, but still connected with the poor bastards head, where it froze solid. For a few seconds the Dai Li clawed at the icy orb resting on his shoulder before Dante drove his combat knife into his heart, thus ending his life.

Maria couldn't believe what she'd just seen. The way he moved against those two Dai Li was unbelievable. Sure, she'd seen her share of death, but never like this. She was still taking in the scene when the stranger wiped his blade on the dead agent's tunic and motioned for her to follow.

Dante's body count was rising, and tonight's forecast seemed poised to head higher. No matter, he needed to get his gear. Without it his chances of getting out of this World and back to his dropped substantially. The two scaled the side of a low building, and observed the Inn from its roof. The sight was not good. There were dozens of Dai Li milling about the premises. A number where carrying his belongings out of the stable and loading it into a cart. His ostrich horse was putting up a good fight, but they had combined their earth shackles to make an improvised restraint that ringed around the birds wings and torso.

It was hard not to jump into action, but with only the pistol the odds were not in his favor. The cart was hooked up to ruffles, and an escort of four Dai Li led it off down the street. Dante and Maria followed on the rooftops, which wasn't hard due to the tightly spaced houses.

"_Their headquarters is the old library about 7 blocks from here. They will most likely stay on this road. The side paths are too narrow for the cart." _she whispered during a brief pause. Dante nodded in understanding, grateful for the valuable intelligence.

"_Then we set an ambush." _His voice was serious and unforgiving. _"Let's get ahead of them, but stay clear of the road."_

A few minutes of hard sprinting and leaps over tile roofs passed before the pair dropped back to ground level. Dante surveyed a few locations, and decided on an intersection with very sparse illumination. More of the water barrels were located and the Water bender made thick icicles which he placed underneath a metal gutter that acted as a storm drain for the road. More icicles were placed on window sills of nearby houses. With luck he wouldn't need to use them, but it was better to be prepared. He'd just finished when the light from the Dai Li's torches began to approach. Dante positioned himself in the shadows of the alleyway and swapped out his magazine. When he heard their footsteps he raised the pistol, and lined up the faintly green glowing tritium sights with a preselected object ahead. The grate was in sight, and he felt the frozen water at his call hidden underneath. The distinct clatter of wooden wheels turning over cobblestone announced their arrival.

The Dai Li entered the Kill zone and multiple spikes shot up under the lead pair's feet, perforating them ruthlessly. The other two pointed their stone clad fist ahead, looking for the perpetrators. Ruffles had been spooked by the sudden movements and agonizing screams that now filled the night air. Dante didn't even have to move. His pistol rang out twice, and the remaining two Dai Li dropped to the ground. Dante was quick to break ruffles earthen restraints, hoisted up Maria, and swung himself plus his pack on behind her. The total weight was almost too much for the poor bird, but it did not seem to mind. Dante spurred it on, eager to get away from the source of the noise, guided by the girl in front of him. She suggested going to her now deceased colleague's hideout, but Dante declined. They were going to the port. The Dai Li would lock this city down in search for them. This was his best and only chance for escape.

Heading for the docks was a gamble for sure. What if the old man wasn't a member of the White Lotus? Hell, it was getting late. What if he wasn't even awake anymore? The streets were deserted, and ruffles made excellent time towards the industrial area by the water.

Just as his nerves were beginning to wind down, the road ahead shot up to create a solid wall of rock. The two were thrown from the ostrich horse's back and landed rather ungracefully. The Dai Li came out of the woodwork as he got up, but didn't attack right away.

"_That was a nice move you pulled on my men there stranger."_

Dante recognized the voice. It was unmistakable.

"_Jet"_ he growled. Maria looked at Dante in confusion. _"How do you know his name?"_

"_I'm psychic", _Dante replied sarcastically.

Regaining his composure, he replied to the almost nonchalant comment from the freedom fighter in front of him. He had the telltale straw husk in his stupid mouth, and that bored look on his face.

"_Ya, well maybe they'd still be alive if you had tried to talk to me reasonably. Taking other peoples shit is frowned upon last time I checked."_

'_How the hell had he become the regional head of the Dai Li?'_ the cornered Canuck was buying time, scanning his surroundings. The Dai Li had cornered them between two buildings, with the wall behind them.

Jet chuckled. _"As if you'd come willingly."_

"_Fair enough. Now, what can I do for ya? I'm kinda in a hurry you see."_

Jet roared with laughter._ "You can start by putting down your weapons, and coming with us quietly. You've got no hope of escaping."_

"_Not a chance Pal. How bout a signed autograph instead?"_

Dante pulled the pin on a flash bang, but held the spoon in place.

"_Maria, in about ten seconds there will be a loud bang and blinding flash."_ He was speaking low, almost murmuring. _"Close your eyes and plug your ears. After you hear it, take ruffles and head thru the door to our right. Kick it in if you need to. I'll be right behind you."_

She shook her head vigorously.

Dante inhaled deeply, and Jets lame reply faded into the background. All he heard was his heartbeat and the metallic ping of the spoon releasing from the grenade in his hand.

'One Mississippi, two mississipi…' The flash bang arced thru the air, heading straight for the Ex Freedom fighter and his goons. The next two seconds felt like an eternity as he spun around and plugged his ears. Despite his eyelids being squeezed shut, the light was blinding, and the bang deafening. Dante spun back, trying to blink the spots from his eyes. He opened fire on the group, emptying the entire 20 round magazine in a matter of seconds. He was unsure what he hit because a second wall come up, separating him from the Dai Li.

Everything seemed to be happening is slow motion. Maria had indeed managed to gain ahold of Ruffles rains, but calming the creature was another matter altogether. Dante booted in the door, and grabbed the rains from her. Before forcefully yanking the upset bird into the house, knocking over furniture and household items in the process. Yelling could be heard outside, but Dante was too busy looking for the back entrance to the small back yards these houses often had. The floorboard above creaked, no doubt the owner of the home wondering that the hell was going on.

The door was located, and he quickly pushed Maria and ruffles thru. The yard was dark, but luckily only separated from the adjacent ones with a wooden fence. It was cut down with a well-placed water based move. Behind them the Dai Li had realized that they used the house to escape. A fresh magazine was rammed home, and two rounds sent thru the doorway they had just come out off. The screams confirmed that they had found targets. The Agents in the meantime had jumped on the surrounding roofs and were now throwing roof tiles like god damn Frisbees at them. Maria had already moved into the next house, which he retreated into after raising an ice shield.

She was already mounted and waiting on the next street. Ruffles was pushed to the raggedy edge for the next ten minutes. The Dai Li had already sprung a trap on them once. The next time wouldn't go so well.

They made it to the port without further incident, though in the process of getting there they had woken half of the god damn city. The docks were dark. The sound of water lapping against the rock and creaking wood was a welcome relief to the harsh grinding of rock on rock and gunfire.

Maria looked around, attempting to locate the boat from her previous encounter here.

Dante meanwhile swept the area, wary of any unwanted visitors. He never disclosed to anyone but the girl why he was going to the city, which meant that the Dai Li were none the wiser as to where they had gone.

She approached him after returning from one of the piers. _"It's this one, she whispered. I'm sure." _

The ship was dark save for one flickering light emanating from a single porthole. Dante approached the wooden sail ship, and tapped the window with his knuckle a few times. The light shifted, and the round glass swung outward.

"_Who's there?"_ an older voice asked cautiously.

"_Hi there. Pardon the intrusion at such a late hour, but might I have a moment of your time?" _

Dante's voice was calm and soft in an effort to put the man at ease. _"Please, it's very important"_

The was a pregnant pause before the he spoke again. _"Very well. I'll meet you up on deck. Be careful not to slip."_

The light faded, and the group made their way up the gangplank. Ruffles was a bit unsteady on the gently rocking boat, and was leaning up to Maria for stability. The busty merc didn't seem to mind though, and even petted its head. After tonight's events the animal was probably grateful for the attention.

The old man was in surprisingly good physical shape. He gestured for them to sit down after leading them sans ruffles below deck. Dante again apologized for the late intrusion. The man simply nodded with a smile before pouring them some tea.

"_I see you play Pi Sho. I'm not very good myself, but would be grateful for some tips."_

Dante placed a tile in the center of the table. The old man's reaction was almost nonexistent, but Dante caught a small twitch from the corner of his mouth.

"_I see you favor the white lotus gambit. Not many still cling to the ancient ways." _The old man stated, eyes still fixed on the tile in the center of the board.

_"Those who do can always find a friend." _Dante finished. It was the password used by the Society between members.

"_You're awfully young to be one of our members. What brings you to me friend?"_

"_Well, you know how the Grand Lotus can be. Sometimes I wonder if my inclusion had more to do with my love of tea, because I really do suck at Pai Sho."_

The older man chuckled. _"Very true, the Grand Lotus is an odd one all right, but also has a sharp mind. He must have had his reasons."_

Dante nodded. _"My name is Dante. This is Maria. I'm sure you've heard the commotion outside. We are currently on the run from the Dai Li."_

"_I see. And what would be the reason for their interest in you?"_ The old guy didn't waste time.

Dante sighed. _"It's not so much me as it is my belongings. The weapons I carry can change the balance of power for whoever wields them in sufficient quantities. Currently both the EKIA and Dai Li seek them, as does the fire nation."_

"_Then why not give them to the Earth Kingdom. It would change the war in their favour, would it not?" _

Dante realized the man was testing him.

"_Supplying more powerful weapons does not address the root cause of this conflict. A permanent piece must be established thru diplomacy."_ Dante sounded like a hypocrite. All he'd done since getting here was gun down people left right and center.

"_Diplomacy you say? The fire nation does not negotiate."_ The tone made him sound like he was belittling a child.

"_Perhaps not right now, but I know of a suitable replacement for the current leadership who will. Do you really think the Grand lotus followed him into exile just for shits and giggles? The boy WILL become the next fire lord. But first we need to cleanse his mind of the hatred his father has poisoned him with. "_

The old man leaned back, deep in thought. The conversation had deviated somewhat from its original purpose, but he did not mind. So the young stranger knew of the Grand Lotus's plan. His previous doubts concerning his actual admittance to the order vanished. No one outside of the order knew of this.

"_What reason do you have to seek me out, other than being on the lam?"_, he repeated.

"_I am in need of transport to the southern water tribe, and preferably back to the continent. I can compensate you for the trip if you don't have any cargo to haul."_

"_And what of your companion?"_

"_I can pay for her too."_

"_I'm not talking about compensation. Can she be trusted?" _

"_Welll, I've only known her for a few hours, and she did try to poison me at dinner, but yeah, I trust her."_

"_You knew about that?"_ Maria was flabbergasted.

"_Well duh, how do you think I took out the first Dai li sentry? That water was laced with the stuff you HAD in your tunic."_ Dante deliberately emphasized the 'had'.

The Ship captain shook his head in disbelief.

"_I can see why the Grand lotus would have picked you now."_ He grumbled before getting up. They were like two peas in a pod. Far too trusting.

Dante gave the man a wide grin, while Maria was still harping on Dante for invading her privacy.

"_Come, I'll show you to your cabin now. Seeing how you've kicked the proverbial ant nest here, we should head out right away."_

Dante ignored the witty remark about his apparent lack of discreetness but felt compelled to address the earlier comment.

"_What do you mean, cabin? It's cabinzzz, right?"_ Dante drew out the 'S' to get his point across.

"_I run a cargo ship, not a ferry young man. I'm sure two will get along splendidly."_

They were led further into the ship's hull, and shown thru a door.

There it was. A single cabin with a single cot. The old man left them to their own devices after that, citing that he needed to stow the bird they'd left up top. Dante looked at the cramped interior, then at the far to amused looking Earth Kingdom girl.

"_I'll take the floor. Don't try anything Woman, ya hear."_

She mock pouted before following him in.

It was going to be a long trip to the South Pole.

* * *

Another Chapter down! The idea to mesh Dante's water bending with his firearms comes to light here. As the story progresses, he will find more innovative ways to fight. He will begin to rely on his bending more. Bullets are heavy, and his quantity is very finite. Non-lethal fighting will address his continued concern with taking life.

As always, reviews are happily accepted! Thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 6: Revelations and hard labour

The next morning Dante woke up with an unfamiliar weight on his shoulder. Confused, he turned to see Maria snuggling up to him. It took him a full three seconds to realize the gravity of the situation. The sore water bender bolted off the floor with a yelp, waking the sleeping brunette in the process.

"_Wuz goin on?"_ she murmured.

"_Why are you not in your own bed!?" _he hissed while getting his bearings.

She smirked. _"I was lonely, and you were warm." _

"_ITS SUMMER!"_ he roared. _"Also, I have a wife!"_ Dante pointed at his wedding ring. He looked at her. _"Wait, you didn't drug me or anything, right? Right?"_

"_And if I did?"_ she replied playfully.

Dante's eyes grew to the size of saucers. _"You wouldn't have!"_

She laughed. _"Relax, I didn't. Gezz, you're such a prude. It's not like she's here, right? What's the problem?" _

Dante let out a nervous laugh, and looked around the room like he was paranoid, much to Maria's confusion. There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to get the beating of a lifetime when he got back, and it wasn't even his fault! Curse that woman! Calling him a prude? If it wasn't for the fact that there were invisible cameras whizzing around recording his every move, he would have done sooooo many terrible, terrible things to her right then and there, if only to prove her wrong! Dante was the opposite of a prude. He was lecherous!

Letting it go with a grunt of frustration, the young man located his pants and stormed out of the cabin. Upon arriving on the main deck, he was surprised to see open Ocean. Well, it explained why he'dbumped into so many things on the way up. The Captain/Lotus member/old man was sitting cross-legged near the front of the ship with ruffles, smoking a pipe.

"_It's been a while since I had company. She's very well behaved too. Did you train her?"_

"_She? He asked. "…Umm, no. Ruffles was a gift for helping a couple of nice folks and their daughter out of a pickle a few weeks ago." _Dante sat down next to him. There was a steady wind coming from the aft starboard side, which propelled the ship forward at a surprising speed.

"_You know, where I'm from ships used to have Cats for both good luck and of course to catch rodents."_

The old man took the pipe out of his mouth.

"_What's a cat?" _

Dante hung his head. _"Never mind"_

The two gazed out towards the horizon until Maria joined them, complaining about being hungry. Dante realized he hadn't eaten since noon the previous day, and followed the well-endowed vixen to the mess area after getting directions from Cap. Dante never did get his name, so the nickname sort of stuck.

The food was mediocre. Lots of salted fish, seeing how this was a boat. The bread was a little stale. After breakfast Dante was eager to get some bending practice in. With the exception of yesterday it had been a few days since he'd gotten a proper workout, and now he was finally surrounded by water. You bet your ass he was going to bend.

The water bender selected a spot aft of the center structure, and pulled a good quantity of seawater towards him. First he formed sturdy ice vessels to hold his bending water. The process of ice sculpting was never really looked at in the show, but it was obviously possible to do so. He had started small in the beginning, making common items from memory, or by observing objects found nearby. The hard part was getting the water to retain the exact shape you wanted before freezing. It always wanted to move around. With larger items individual components would have to be assembled, then fused at the joints or desired connections to make more intricate structures. Large pots of water were nothing. He gave himself the added challenge of engraving them with flower murals just for the hell of it. Afterwards it was time to stretch. Yesterday's events left the muscles a little sore, and besides it was a good habit to get into simply because of the amount of moving involved. It wouldn't do to pull anything during practice.

Dante started by setting up targets, in this case ice disks at various heights and distances on the deck. He was in the process of teaching himself how to throw water punches, similar to the ones commonly used in the pro bending tournaments seventy years from now. It had taken a few days to select the proper quantity of water and get the motions right. The movements involved mimicking fire bending, but the form was a bit sloppier for obvious reasons.

The two closest targets went down quickly, but he missed the next one about 15 paces away. Shifting his feet, he knocked that disk down as well. The speed at which the water moved made it hard to dodge in a fight, which was the idea. It put water benders on par with earth and fire when it came to projectile firing. Dante aimed for the far disk, and loosened a fast jab with a smaller than usual water mass. When it reached the disk, he forced it to expand rapidly, creating an instant cloud of dense fog. It worked like a smoke grenade. Pleased with the result, the water bender wiped the sweat off his brow and turned back around…only to find both Cap and Maria sitting there, watching.

"_Impressive technique lad. Where did you pick it up?"_ The old man stretched, and the Canadian cringed when he heard the old-timers joints popping.

"_I invented it myself. It's an adaptation of a martial art called boxing."_

The old man nodded. "_Well, it's good see young folks practicing the old arts… even if it is with a new twist." _He walked up to one of the pots, and inspected the craftsmanship. Then he did something surprising. He bent a quantity of water out of the pot in true water tribe fashion, and proceeded to whip it at one of the remaining targets with lighting fast agility. The ice pulverized under the force of the blow, and there was a sharp crack confirming that the water tip had actually broken the speed of sound briefly.

"_Sweet Jebus Cap, that was amazing. I had no idea you were water tribe."_

"_I'm not. Born and raised in the earth kingdom. It's probably why I'm still here. I heard the southern raiders took all the water benders from there forty years ago. Trained with them when I was your age. Lost a lot of good friends back then."_

His eyes lost their spark momentarily as he remembered friends from long ago.

Dante frowned as well. He was sure that when the time came, he'd make sure Yon Ra paid for his crimes. That was one kill he wouldn't be losing sleep over, that's for sure. He shook his head to clear the thought.

"_Hey, could you teach me some proper water bending techniques? I've been winging it so far, but you look like a pro."_

The old man chuckled._ "Isn't it every old persons dream to pass on their knowledge before their time is up? Actually, I'm glad you asked. It would be a pleasure to teach you PROPER water bending young one."_

Cap bowed in the proper water bending way. Dante laughed at the remark before bowing as well. _ "Deal!"_

oOo

Days passed and the crew managed to settle into a comfortable routine. He would wake just after sunrise (usually with Maria sprawled all over him despite his continued protests) and get in some early morning bending practice. Despite Caps guidance, he still honed his own techniques. They were unorthodox, which made them highly effective. He'd need that in the coming months if he was to defeat the Fire Lord.

After lunch it was ship maintenance. Knots had to constantly be retied, others checked, the deck scrubbed. The list went on and on. Secretly Dante figured that the old man kept the one cabin for just this reason. Hitchhikers looking for an easy ride across the pond, only to realize they've been conscripted to wash, scrub, and repair the entire damn ship during the journey. Man he was working them to the bone.

Bending practice with Cap started in the late afternoon. Apparently Dante had picked up some bad habits, because the old guy busted him down to the basics for the first two days until he was satisfied Dante could do them properly. He did notice an improvement in his overall element control, so at least it wasn't for nothing. The water whip was only the beginning. Dante learnt moves he never even saw in the show. Some of them were quite ingenious. For example, Cap showed him how to make wide water net that would wrap around and freeze on contact with the target. It was perfect for fast and agile opponents like Ty lee.

As they headed further south the air began to chill. It wasn't very noticeable until one morning Dante could see his breath. Donning the single sweater he'd packed, the young Canadian headed above deck to greet Cap.

"_Why is it so cold all of a sudden?"_ He asked.

"_Cold front moved in overnight"_, he said between puffs from his pipe. _"I felt it in my leg yesterday."_

"_Handy feature to have I'm sure"_, he said with a mocking grin.

"_Oh don't worry kid; you'll get to where I am soon enough." _The two chuckled.

"_I'm going to make some tea. Want a cup?"_

"I was afraid you'd never ask."

Dante shook his head with a smirk before heading below to set up a pot of water.

'_God damn it Maria, where'd you put the spark rocks this time.'_ It was a daily occurrence with that girl. She never put anything back where it belonged. Dante looked at the stone cold water in the pot, mind wandering.

'_If I can freeze water solid, why not do the opposite and warm it up. Sounds simple enough, right?'_

Dante imagined heating the water, and swept his hand over the pot. When he opened the lid, there was a solid chunk of ice inside. _'Apparently not...'_

He duplicated the motion to thaw it back into a liquid.

He had obviously just introduced heat energy to the water in order to thaw it. Why couldn't he add more? For the next ten minutes he froze and thawed the water in the pot until frustration won and he fetched his zippo from the shared cabin, making sure to be loud enough to wake Maria.

She turned and whined into her pillow. _"Why are you so mean?" _

"_Cause you're a scatter brain who losses everything you touch!"_

He smacked her butt and was rewarded with a surprised shriek before leaving the cabin. Shortly after he brought Cap his tea.

"_Took you long enough"_, he stated before accepting the steaming cup.

"_Yeah, yeah old timer. Put a lid on it will ya."_

Dante enjoyed the silence that came with the morning. It didn't last long however because Maria came up, hair disheveled and tunic on crooked, walked up to the two men, and smacked Dante upside the head before going back below deck.

"_Christ, what a spitfire!"_ Dante grumbled in annoyance while trying to salvage what was left in his cup.

Cap laughed. It had been too long since he'd had enjoyable company such as these two.

"_Say", Dante finally asked. "Has there ever been a water bender that could heat water instead of just cooling it?"_

Cap paused, but finally shook his head. _"The avatar perhaps. But even then it would have been fire bending, not water bending." _Dante nodded. It was a long shot.

That night, he was still awake after an hour of trying to fall asleep.

'_Why could water benders re-liquefy ice, but not heat water? It was the same thing!'_

He rose, finally giving up trying to clear his head and tired of looking at the deck planks above. He needed to try it again. There must be a way for water benders to heat water. Dante donned his heavy winter parka. It wasn't quite cold enough to really need it, but he couldn't exactly pack his entire wardrobe either, and the sweater wouldn't cut it after sunset.

Outside, the water was mirror smooth. The sky was clear, and the stars shone with an intensity he'd never seen before on land. The land rat, as Cap liked to call him inhaled deeply, savoring the salty cold air. Upon exhaling he bent the moisture to make different shapes before the mist finally dissipated. The ice vessels from their previous sessions were now able to remain aboard due to the cold weather. He liquefied the top layer of ice from one. His reflection greeted him in the dark water; serious from the hurdle he was sure could be solved.

'_Water is heated by introducing an external source of energy and raising its initial temperature. Fire benders use their inner flame to channel heat through their hands. How then can water benders do the same?'_

He sat down cross-legged and played with an orb of water, mulling over the possibilities. We draw our power from the moon; therefore we exert gravitational forces on the water to manipulate it. That explains the movement, but not the freezing. To freeze and thaw energy must be added or removed. We can't make copious amounts of heat, but we can manipulate the chemical compound.

Dante paused, and the orb fell onto the deck with a splash.

"_Compound…"_ he repeated the word out loud. Water at its most basic form. Physics and Chemistry taught him that as water temperature rose, its molecules vibrate back and forth faster. All matter did this. Could it be that water benders subconsciously force the water molecules to vibrate slower? If that's the case it would be the first time he'd ever heard of any force being able to manipulate matter on such a level to enact change.

Was this the explanation? He needed to find a way to apply his theory. Dante was exited. If this actually panned out, he'd be the first water bender to actually invent a new bending technique.

Approaching the pot once more he inhaled deeply, but instead of thinking of heating the water Dante concentrated on making the molecules within vibrate faster. The Canadian didn't notice anything different though. The water was still stone cold, but he was determined not to give up. He tried a smaller quantity instead, using a smiley face mug he'd brought with him. With a smooth sweep of the arm, the water went from a few degrees to bathwater temperature. Steam rose in thin wisps. To confirm he dipped his finger inside. Before he could react to his success however the old man, who had approached without a sound spoke up, and he almost threw his cherished cup overboard.

"_Well I'll be damned. You actually pulled it off kid."_

Dante spun to face him, clearly not expecting company. His mouth opened and closed, but no words came out. He looked like a fish that had just been caught.

Cap sat down next to the young man, and gave the yellow mug a questioning look.

"_It's a gift from my wife"_, he explained before pulling a small passport picture of Joanna out of his pocket.

Cap grunted. _"If this is your attempt of getting your own cabi…"_

"_No, it's not"_ Dante rolled his eyes.

"_What are you doing up at this hour anyway?, _he added._ "You need your beauty sleep you know." _

Cap let out a hoarse laugh.

"_The creaking wood woke me." _

Dante looked confused. _"But the wood always creaks."_

"_Not when the water is this calm."_ He gazed out at the infinite glasslike stillness that was La. Dante realized what he meant.

"_Oh. My bad, sorry for waking you."_

"_Not at all. I'm glad you did. Nights like this are to be savored. The southern seas are normally quite tumultuous and ever churning."_

The younger man nodded in silence. For the next few minutes neither spoke, but simply gazed at the open ocean.

"_So, are you going to explain how you did that just now, or do I have to force it out of you?" _Cap finally said. The sound carried surprisingly well. Often one would have to shout on deck to be heard over the howling wind and whooshing of the sea.

Dante explained the process. To emphasize he brought one of the urns to a boil for a few moments. Now that he had an idea of how to do it and more importantly the confidence that it could in fact be done, it was rather easy.

"_Such knowledge can be very useful. Where did you learn it?" _

Dante had expected the question. _"There's a group of refugees that currently reside in the Northern Air temple. The leader of the group is an avid inventor. He's taught me a lot."_

Dante felt bad for lying, but telling the truth just wasn't an option at this point. He would be considered insane. Better to lie and say he was from some far away back water. It was for the best, at least for now.

Cap sensed the change in the younger man's mood, and decided it was time to try to turn in once again.

"_Lad, thank you for the company. I suggest you get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."_

Dante sat on the deck for a while longer, looking at the picture he still clutched in his hand. It might take him a little while to get home, but there was no doubt that he would make it back.

* * *

I always found it really odd that water benders can enact change in water, freezing and thawing it with nothing more than the flick of the wrist. A lot of energy is required to make water change phase, 334 joules per gram to be exact. That means to thaw a two liter pop bottle, you need 668 kilojoules of energy. That's about 159 food calories. If water benders expended that much energy their caloretic intakes after bending would be off the scale. Freezing and thawing that pop bottle twice would be like eating a big mac and not gaining a single gram!


	8. Chapter 7: It dosen't get any more south

'_Traveling by sea really was a hell of a lot better than hoofin' it over the ground'_, he thought as he leaned over the combined maps that were laid out on the mess table. Cap estimated their current position to be here, a spot just north of the famous whale tail island. If the winds continued to be favorable, they'd be on the shores of the southern water tribe settlement within the week.

Maria had begun growing restless, and was therefore following Dante's every move. It was getting frustrating, and heaping more work on the girl didn't seem to deter her. Cap was teaching Dante to play Pai sho, and in return Dante had begun to teach both him and Maria to play poker. The busty ex merc took an especial liking to the game, probably because as they got better, pots were introduced with everything from currency to jewelry, and Dante even lost one of the cheap BIC's in an intense game. His full house was beaten by a ridiculous 4 of a kind rom Maria. Those two were getting too good at hiding their emotions, he thought dryly. And that was without even explaining what a poker face was!

The temperature steadily dropped as days passed, and Cap provided him and Maria with proper arctic gear. The fur lined pants and jackets were wonderfully warm, but not bulky enough to restrict movement. He made a note to trade for a few of these if they ever made it to the North. Icebergs drifted past, their massive size hidden beneath the waves. Cap was more alert now, no longer playing card games or bending with him. Most of his time was spent at the helm, delegating both him and Maria into doing more important tasks. Over the last two weeks he'd become quite familiar with the sailing vessel, and the two had picked up a slew of new vocab.

Dante was braving the strong and very cold wind on top of the main mast a few days later, in the process of tightening knots when he spotted signs of habitation in the distance. Thin wisps of smoke rose from the dozen or so Igloo on an otherwise flat sheet of ice and snow. Seconds later some sort of horn sounded, probably from a lookout on the edge of the settlement. Sokka's lookout no doubt, the Canadian thought while clinging to the main mast.

They'd made it! He finished his task up top and climbed back down the ice covered rope ladder.

Thirty minutes later they were on the snowy shores of the southern water tribe village. It wasn't much, but he already knew that. Out of the igloos/ice dwellings came women, children, and the elderly. Amongst them he recognized the village elder, Kanna.

She stepped forward, greeting Cap with a hug.

"_It's been too long old fiend"_ Dante was listening of course, hoping to hear Cap actual name from the old woman. No such luck.

"_It has. How are things down here" He asked lightly._ Kanna however grimaced.

"_It could be better. But I won't worry you with our problems. Please, why don't you and your guests come inside?" _

She gestured to the larger than usual mound of ice and snow. Dante and Maria followed Cap inside. The temperature within was actually rather pleasant. His face prickled after being exposed to the cold all morning.

Kanna sat down, followed by none other than Sokka. Dante couldn't believe it. Here he was, sitting across the table, in the flesh. The first of the original gang, as they were known as back home. The young teen stared at the new comers with suspicion. Tea was served, and shortly after Sokkas sister joined them as well. Katara sat down beside her brother, the complete opposite of her older sibling. Dante could tell she was itching to ask all sorts of questions. He could understand that. When you spend all your life in the barren wastes it's no wonder really.

Cap introduced them. This young man here is Dante, and the lady is Maria. Both nodded politely.

"_Pleased to meet you"_, he said shyly.

"_Likewise"_, Maria added.

Kanna smiled. _"Well now, what brings you all the way to the Southern Water Tribe?"_

Cap and Maria pointed at Dante, who looked at both before staring back at Kanna.

"_Ummm, that would be my doing. I'm here because I heard rumors of a water bender living here." _

The outward appearance of all three changed from relaxed to nervous. Sokka answered back. _"I'm afraid you're mistaken. There are no water benders at the south pole."_

Dante nodded, easily seeing thru the young man's lie. _"That's a shame. I was hoping to accompany that person to the Northern Tribe and teach them Water bending along the way." _With that he stirred his tea using his finger. The contents of the cup swirled around within, easy enough for everyone to see.

"_You're a water bender too?" _Katara burst out. Sokka smacked his forehead, but Kanna just chuckled.

Dante laughed. _"Indeed I am. And what's your name little Miss?"_

She grinned. _"My name's Katara. This is my older brother Sokka, and my GranGran. You're really here to take me to the Northern Water tribe and teach me water bending?" _The excitement in her voice was unmistakable.

"_That's the idea kiddo. Your brother as well if he wants too"_

"_Why?"_

Dante turned to face the questions owner. Sokka has always been on the cautious side. Dante liked that. He asked the right questions at the right times, always ready with a plan.

"_I won't sugarcoat this for you kids. A few months ago you were out on an ice field, right?"_ Katara and Sokka looked at one another.

"_Your boat was smashed, and you blamed your sister. When she got mad, she cracked an iceberg with her bending."_

"_Yeah, so what. How do you know this anyway?"_ Sokka replied. Kanna and Cap were listening with interest as well.

"_What should have happened after that is hard to believe, but the Avatar was supposed to have been frozen in that berg. After his re-awakening you should have accompanied him on his journey to master the four elements. But that never happened. I don't know why, but my goal is to do his work and eventually stop the fire lord. To do this I need both your help."_

Everyone looked at him like he'd just spontaneously combusted. _"Bring down the fire lord?"_ The young water tribe warrior repeated with attitude. _"Are…you…INSANE?"_

Sokka leaned in and twirled his finger beside his head.

"_I realize it sounds crazy, but the earth kingdom is crumbling under the might of the fire nation military. If we don't act soon, the war will be over, but not the way you'd have wanted. Think of your father."_

Sokka spun to face him, the look in his eyes hard and unforgiving.

"_What do you know about our father?"_

Dante sighed.

"_Hakoda and the rest of the men from your village are currently guarding the entrance to Chameleon bay from the fire nation. Ba Sing Se is at serious risk of being captured in the coming months. My plan is to train both of you, as well as a third individual in the earth kingdom. Together we can save Ba Sing Se and bring the fight to the Fire nation." _

Sokka digested this information. _"How could four people possibly save the great fortress city of Ba Sing Se, much less take on the fire Nation Army?" _

"_Your sister is a very capable Water bender, you yourself are very good at strategy, although without any real life experience. And the earth bender is rumoured to be the best there is. It's possible, if we can convince the Northern tribe and the earth king to support us."_

Before Sokka could ask another question Dante continued.

"_I realize it's a lot to take in, but I'm giving you two options. Stay here and do nothing while the world literally burns around you or accompany me to the Northern Water Tribe. I'm going regardless of your answer, because I too need further Water bending tutelage. There are a LOT of people that will die if I don't act, including the men from you village."_

Dante had said what we wanted, and leaned back to enjoy the broth like tea in his cup. No more questions were asked, but it was clear that his request had everyone inside the modest igloo thinking.

After brunch (it was still morning after all) the group scattered. Maria it seemed had found a new victim, in this case poor Sokka. Dante's reaction was mixed. On the one hand he was glad the far too friendly merc had set her eyes on someone else for the time being. On the other he was depressed at how she'd announced it, saying it was time for someone younger. What the hell was that supposed to mean? He was young!

While Sokka was showing his shipmate the "watchtower", Katara had offered to show Dante around. After pointing out the docks, smoke hut, and various other ice heaps that all looked the same to him she mentioned the fire nation ship.

Dante's head shot up in interest. It was the perfect opportunity to study fire navy vessel design.

_"Sure"_, he said enthusiastically. _"Let's take a peek."_

On the way to the old wreckage they talked. As it turns out, Katara was quite the chatterbox. It was a surprise, but Dante patiently answered all of her questions.

"_How did you know about what happened to us with our boat?"_, she asked.

Dante carefully considered her question. He didn't want to fully reveal his origins to anyone just yet.

"_Where I'm from, we have machines that can see what other people are doing…." _Katara gave him a creeped-out look. _"But not all the time"_, he added. _"There was a prophecy that the Avatar was to return in the year 99 A.S., found by two siblings from the southern tribe. When this did not happen, I began my journey to find you and do his work in his stead. Unfortunately I can't bend all four elements, and will need your help if we are to stop the fire lord."_

Katara looked skeptical. Dante muttered something about lack of trust nowadays and rummaged through his pockets, revealing his smart phone. He launched the video player, and selected the moment when Sokka and Katara were bickering in the first episode, right after losing their canoe.

Katara was fascinated with the device. _"This is amazing! I can't wait show this to Sokka!" _

Dante laughed. _"We will, but first I want to see this cool Fire nation ship you keep talking about."_

The district silhouette of the massive steel vessel grew larger ahead.

Katara explained that it had been immobilized decades earlier during the raids and subsequently abandoned. The two entered through a large gash in the hull.

Katara handed him a seal oil lamp she picked up before setting out earlier, and he lit it using spark rocks.

_"When Sokka and I were younger he dared me to put my tongue against the metal."_

Dante chucked. _"Yeah, we've all been there. Not too nice, was it?"_

_"No"_, she replied with a laugh.

The two water benders continued exploring the ship, wary of any tripwires. Already he'd disabled two, one of which would have set off a nasty gravity powered trap. The avatar verse wasn't as friendly as previously depicted, he thought while running a thumb across the edge of a very sharp spear jerry-rigged to swing into the corridor if activated.

_'Zuko came though these waters months ago, so flares would probably go un-noticed.'_ Regardless, he didn't want to take any chances and told Katara to stay close.

They left soon after and returned to the settlement after Dante sealed the entrance to the doomed vessel with a solid block of ice. Hopefully this would deter others from exploring the ship in the near future.

Kanna was less than impressed when she found out where they had gone, but the seriousness of the situation faded when dinner was served and Sokka made a fool of himself, a common occurrence he was told. That night Katara showed her brother and grandmother the strange flat device that projected moving pictures. When asked about the origins of it, he told them it was a common thing to have amongst his people.

The sun was still low over the horizon despite the locals' assurance that it was well into the night. In another few weeks it would not set at all during the summer solstice.

Dante took advantage of the long daylight hours and got some bending practice in despite the bitter cold. Not surprisingly Katara soon joined him, first watching, and then trying to mimic Dante's moves. He slowed, and began to correct her posture as well as form. Katara was eager to learn, and delighted when her efforts bore fruit. Hours later and after her hundredth yawn, he accompanied her to her families' igloo and headed back to the ship for some much needed rest.

oOo

The next morning was spent re-provisioning the small sail ship and exchanging goods. There was no deadline on the offer Dante had made to the water tribe siblings, but time was of the essence. The comet was due sometime at the end of summer. It had taken far too long to get to the coast from the interior of the continent. His focus now was to train Katara and Sokka on their way to the North Pole and to convince Toph Bei Fong to help them. Somewhere along the way he needed to find Zuko and his uncle. All in all a piece of cake, right? NOT! It was going to take a miracle to pull off what he needed to do in order to get back home. Sometimes he just thought it might be easier to board a ferry to Caldera City, waltz into the palace and gun down anyone who tried to stop him. The odds right now seemed just as good.

Actually the last part was going to be easy. He could contact Iroh via messenger hawk, though someone else would need to write for him. Damn his illiteracy!

The day passed without much activity. Katara had asked for another bending lesson to which he'd happily agreed. Supper was fish soup, salty but filling. He craved dairy for some reason, but not enough to wrestle a nursing sea lion to get some. No thank you. He thanked Kanna for the meal and retreated to the ship when it became clear that the wise old woman had not come to a conclusion.

Maria found Dante relaxing on the cabins single cot, hands folded behind his head. She plopped down on the thin mattress next to him, and gave the young man a sideways glance.

"_So, do you think they'll go for it?"_

"_I think so."_ He stretched, getting a satisfying pop from his back.

"_But I don't want to rush them. They might reconsider if I get to pushy. A few more days, then we go. I've already confirmed with Cap. He says we need to depart soon anyway, otherwise we might get stuck in the ice flows. Kanna knows this too. They'll let us know when the time comes." _

Maria nodded in understanding.

"_So, am I coming with you to the North Pole?"_

Dante shrugged, eyes still closed. _"If you want to. It's your call really. Chances are we'll be fighting fire navy on our way there. Can you handle yourself in a fight?"_

"_You bet your ass I can!" _she stated proudly.

"_Are you a bender?"_

"_Nope. I specialized in Short Swords and daggers."_

Dante chuckled. It almost sounded like a University major with the way she said it.

"_Good. You can teach Sokka should he choose to come along. He can't bend either, and sword fighting is a solid way to go."_

She raised her brow. _"What's in it for me?"_

"_You mean other than the five star luxury cruise you're on?__"_

She lightly jabbed him in the leg.

"_I thought you said you owed me one. What ever happened to that?"_

"_I have a bad memory." _

"_Uh, huh. Sure you do." _Another jab to the leg.

They both laughed before a knock came from the wood door.

"_Kanna wants to speak to you."_ Caps voice was gruff, probably from too much of the terrible liquor these people somehow made.

Dante grunted and rose, grabbing his fur lined boots and coat before opening the door. On the way to the ladder that led to the deck he stopped by the make shift pen that held Ruffles, leaning in for a good ear scratch. Then it was up the ladder, down the gang plank, and across the small settlement to the main igloo. The bone chilling cold made the snow crunch with every step he took.

There were a few other mothers with Kanna, though their standing within the tribe eluded him. The elderly woman gestured him to take a seat, which he did.

"_You have given me much to think about in the last few days young one. When you mentioned the avatar and your quest to fight the fire nation, I considered you insane."_

"_Umm, thanks?"_

Kanna ignored his sarcastic remark and continued.

"_However you are sadly correct with the fact that the fire nation is close to winning this war. I dislike putting Sokka and Katara in harm's way, but realize that it is only a matter of time before we are all rounded up and removed from our land and homes. I will not speak ill of Hakoda, but his decision to fight the fire nation was rash and may cost us everything."_

She paused, inhaling deeply in an effort to keep her emotions in check.

"_I entrust Sokka and Katara too you, a complete stranger. Protect them, keep them safe, and make sure they return unharmed. They are children. Please remember that."_

Dante nodded. _"I will do my very best to shield them from any physical and emotional harm, and I thank you for placing your trust in me." _

Kanna nodded, and dismissed him with a wave of her hand.

He rose and excused himself. Dante was a little surprised at how cold her attitude towards him. In the show she seemed much more…grandmotherly. Ehh, whatever, the young man thought with a shrug. Tomorrow they would depart!


	9. Chapter 8: A chance encounter

It had been a three day since they set sail from the South Pole (aka the middle of nowhere). Dante was back into his routine, except now he had another person to practice with. Katara was progressing fast under Caps wing, and Dante was beginning to think he'd be the one who would eventually be taught by her. She was definitely a natural, even more so than himself.

It was decided that the cabin he and Maria shared would now house both girls, while Dante and Sokka were demoted to hammocks in the cargo hold with Ruffles.

The boy was still wary of Dante, but progress was being made. For instance Sokka was not against sparing with Dante after sword lessons from Maria. Dante was as much a novice as Water tribe teen when it came to melee combat, but it was a useful skill to have should he ever be disarmed. Eventually he'd have to buy a sword. Hell, maybe if they had time they could visit Pinato.

The siblings also played poker with the trio, which made the games even more intense. Sokka was easily read, which was no surprise, but Dante suspected that the mercenary had been teaching Katara how to play.

It had gotten warm enough to shed the heavy fur parka and boots, allowing him to wear his usual forest green cargo pants, tan colored combat boots and t-shirt. He'd brought three with him. A white one, a black one, and a joke shirt depicting a donkey on the back of a moving truck with the word 'Haulin…' underneath. Nobody understood English writing, but that was ok with him.

Dante was located at the bow of the ship with Cap, fixing a plank that had come loose during a squall yesterday. The breeze was light, and the tapping of the hammer seemed amplified on the great blue expanse.

Katara joined them not long after with tea, which earned her two big smiles and thank you's. Repairs complete, the young Canadian stretched, then paused. There was a faint smell of smoke. But not the wood smoke he was used to from wildfires. It was faint, but recognizable none the less. Cap knew as well. Coal smoke.

Dante quickly made his way below deck to fetch the field binoculars, and proceeded to climb up the main mast to get a better vantage point. An initial scan revealed nothing, but after identifying which direction the wind was blowing he focused on the northwest. Sure enough, there it was. A tiny spec of gray, almost invisible were it not for the distinct plume of black and gray smoke belched from its stack. Dante whistled to get his captains attention, and the experienced mariner made his way up to the mast, though somewhat abated. He accepted the binos with mild interest, but frowned when saw what Dante had pointed to.

"_Hard to tell their course, but if they spot us there's no way we will outrun them."_

"_Agreed"_ Dante's voice was hard, calculating. _"We better raise the sail. It'll lower our silhouette."_

Cap nodded, and the two quickly descended. Did the fire nation have nautical telescopes? He sure hoped not. The bridge of that gutted ship back at the south pole must have been at least six or seven stories tall. What would happen if they were spotted? Would the metal ship simply sail past, or try to board the innocent looking merchant vessel? All kinds of scenarios were running through Dante's head, and most of them turned ugly rather quickly. Sea men…ha,haaa(stop it brain, not now!) Ok Sailors were a rather raunchy bunch, so it would be best if Maria and Katara remained below deck. With the main sail raised, Cap continued to keep an eye on the far away ship while Dante raced to change into something less identifiable. Cap's frown deepened when the plume of coal smoke grew, signaling that the ship had increased speed.

Running would only make them more suspicious. Better to stay put and act normal. Minutes passed as the aggressive looking metal ship cut the distance between them to almost nothing. Cap told them he'd do the talking, to which the Canadian didn't object to.

Both boys selected loose tunics and pairs of trousers that were held up by a string. Sokka followed suit, though with a bit more complaining. Being proud of your colors was great and all, but it kinda defeats the purpose of trying to look inconspicuous. He wedged the M1A under the deck by the entrance hatch, easily accessible should shit hit the fan.

The size difference between the two vessels became noticeable when it pulled next to them, the shadow of the larger craft enveloping the wooden sail ship completely. It was big yes, but also a complete and utter piece of junk. Large rust stains could be seen around the few port holes and riveted steel plates that made up the outer hull. Honestly, the BC ferries vessels he'd been on a few years ago looked like a million bucks next to this clunker. A roll ladder fell down the side of the hull, and red clad men in uniform began to descend. Dante ignored them however because something unexpected had come to pass. Despite truly miniscule odds, this ship here was none other than the crown princes! The ponytail was a dead giveaway, as was the plump man who followed said ponytail down the ladder.

Zuko looked angry, but that was nothing new. Dante tried his best to look worried and unimportant in order to be ignored. How on earth was he going to play the hand he was just dealt? The canon timeline was already shot to hell and back. Could the plan incorporate the two banished princes? If Ozai was eventually removed from power, the power vacuum would plunge this world into an even greater chaos. Ultimately it wasn't his concern, but regardless… The two men coming down that could bring stability after the war, IF they could be reasoned with. Iroh was the one he needed to talk to then. Zuko needed to simply chase him. But how was he going to accomplish that?

Iroh, actually was the very answer to this. Before Zuko could even speak, the Jolly older man stepped past him with laughter and excitement and gave cap a big bear hug. Everyone around had the same flabbergasted look on their face, including the crown price, Dante and Sokka.

"_Uncle! Don't just greet random people like that! It's disgraceful!"_

'_Wow, what a brat'_, Dante thought with raised eyebrows.

Iroh however didn't care in the least. _"But Nephew, this is a very old friend of mine. We used to play Pai Sho together!_" The excitement in his voice was a bit overkill, but it completely deflated the angry youngster and lightened the mood on deck. Even the masked fire benders looked more at ease. Funny how Iroh had that effect on people, the Water bender thought with a small smirk.

On the other hand Dante was just pissed that Iroh hadn't said Caps name. Did he even have one? How the hell has this been dragging on for almost three weeks? Jebus H Christ on a bicycle!

Cap laughed back. _"It's great to see you once again old friend."_

The two began a friendly chat about who knew what. Dante would have listened in, but the Jerk bender had shifted his attention towards them. Dante briefly looked at him, but quickly averted his eyes. Zuko was brooding, but not yet at the level where he would yell at complete stranger. That was a pretty shitty silver lining to this whole situation if you asked him.

"_You know, this young man over here has also recently picked up Pai sho as well. He favors the lotus gambit if you can believe that." _

Iroh for the first time acknowledged Dante with and look that would have said; 'Oh really?'

Dante smiled nervously.

Iroh turned to his nephew, and despite his grandfatherly voice, there was command in the way he talked.

"_Nephew, I would like to have a private talk with these two gentlemen. Would you be so kind as to grant me an hour to speak to them?" _

Zuko had picked up on the change in speech as well, and after a brief internal struggle nodded curtly. _"Make it quick uncle."_ And with that he made his way to the front of the wooden ship.

Cap showed Dante and Iroh to the ships common area, where they sat down. Iroh refused the offer of tea, something quite unusual. That meant he was curious about Caps comment, and rightly so. He was after all, the sole individual who approved new recruits into the Societies fold. Someone as young as this would never even have qualified. How was it then that he had convinced his good friend that he was? Iroh was curious indeed.

Dante began by introducing himself.

"_My name is Dante Webber." _He held out his hand in greeting, which the Iroh accepted with curiosity. No culture he knew on this earth used a handshake as a greeting._ "It's a pleasure to meet you General. I hope your nephew isn't giving you too much trouble?"_

Iroh refocused on the conversation and chuckled. _"Likewise young man, but please, call me Iroh. I have not been a general in many years."_

Dante nodded.

"_As for my Nephew, he can be a little high strung but he really is a very good person."_

"_I believe you. Prince Zuko has had a rough couple of years. It's great to see that he has a good role model to guide him through his hardships."_

At that Iroh beamed. _"Why thank you! Now, how was it that you two came to meet?"_ Dante glanced at Cap, and retold the story of their harrowing escape from Ling Shau. Iroh hummed in understanding and stroked his beard, an old habit from his days as a lowly field commander.

'_So this young man is on the run from the EK authorities and sought refuge amongst a Lotus member._'

It made sense, but for every question answered two or even three more emerged. Why was he running? How did he know of the Lotus greeting, a very well-guarded secret, much like the organization itself? Dante seemed to anticipate what Iroh was thinking.

"_The truth is, I am not a real member of the White lotus."_ Dante broke eye contact to face Cap. He bowed in apology. _"I am truly and deeply sorry. Back in Ling Shau there was no time to explain who I really was. I feared you would be unwilling to help, and I could not allow the Dai Li to capture me."_

Caps face showed the look of betrayal and disappointment, but also a small hint of acknowledgment for fessing up to his lie. He sighed heavily before giving the young Canadian a hint of a smirk.

"_Boy, I knew there was something off about you when we first met, but I went with it because I didn't sense any ill will coming from you. Explain yourself to the Grand lotus and myself, and I may let you off with a weeks' worth of hard chores."_

Dante relaxed, happy to have been forgiven so easily. _"Yes sir."_

Dante Webber laid out everything. Where he was from, how he got here, and what he needed to do to return. He demonstrated weapons, explained how his equipment worked, showed examples. It felt good to get this off his chest, to share. The amount of information he presented was overwhelming, but the two older men only grew more concerned as he continued.

The technology this young man possessed would completely revolutionize war, and could reshape boundaries in ways even the experienced general could not foresee. Iroh agreed with the Water bender's observation that the EKIS had probably been made aware of his existence shortly after arriving in this world. If he hadn't already travelled to the spirit world once, Iroh would have considered the young man insane.

"_Your story has been a real eye opener Dante", _the General said while stroking his signature beard_. "The real question now is how to proceed?"_

Dante nodded in agreement. _"The ideal solution, and one which I believe you've already given some thought to…"_he paused._ "Would be to dispose of your brother and replace him with either yourself or Prince Zuko."_

Iroh crossed his arms. _"Zuko is not yet ready for the crown. He still believes that his father will welcome him back if he finds the avatar. And I myself cannot claim the trone without the misconception of a power struggle between siblings." _

"_I agree, which is why we must make him realize that his father unfortunately does not want him back. In the original timeline, Zuko chased the avatar all the way to the North Pole before he was defeated. The invasion fleet sent by Admiral Zhao was destroyed, and both of you made traitors." _

Iroh's brows shot up but Dante continued before he could interrupt. _"I will give you access to every single video file, and I'm sure you will come to the same conclusion." _Dante gave Iroh his second cellphone, as well as his solar charger and spare cell batteries. Next he showed the jolly old man how to operate the device.

"_We must try to recreate the original timeline as best we can if we are to see this change of heart within your Nephew. To do that we must make him think that I am the Avatar."_

"_And how are we to do that?"_

Dante grinned. _"Just leave it to me."_

oOo

Zuko had been waiting for over an hour now. An hour of pacing back and forth, getting more irritated by the minute. Finally he opted to meditate. The Prince always found meditation made time go by faster, and he wasn't accomplishing anything by walking grooves into the deck. Normally he meditated with candles, but it was also possible to do so without them. He slipped into a relaxed state of mind, focusing on nothing but his breathing and inner fire. Time passed, he didn't know how much, but the creak of a hinge brought him out of his moment of tranquility. Zuko looked to the source of the sound immediately to his right, and gazed into the deepest set of baby blue eyes he'd ever seen. Their owner had a surprised and slightly concerned expression. He shamelessly stared for a good five seconds, marveling at her mocha colored skin, soft facial features and full lips before coming to his senses. It was the first time the Fire bender had ever laid eyes on a Watertribe person, man or woman. Katara's reaction was more like that of a deer caught in the headlights. She had hoped to see if the coast was clear, and instead interrupted a mean looking fire nation youth during his nap (the water tribes don't meditate)

Zuko stood up, and was about to pull the girl out of the deck hatch when a masked fire nation sailor came up to summon him.

"_Sir, General Iroh requests your presence immediately."_

Zuko nodded, gave the girl with the blue eyes another glace, and marched off towards the main deck. Katara slipped back below deck and sealed the hatch before the masked sailor could turn back her way.

The Banished Prince entered the mess area to find his uncle and the two crew members from this sad little boat sitting around a table.

"_What is this about?"_ he asked. To Dante it sounded more like a demand. _"Please sit Nephew; these people see m to have information regarding the Avatar._" Zuko's demeanor changed as he sat down.

"_Prince Zuko"_, Dante began._ "I understand you seek the avatar, but you don't even know what he looks like, am I correct?"_ Zuko gave Dante a curious glance.

"_For instance he or she could be sitting right in front of you, and you wouldn't even know."_ Dante picked up his teacup, and brought the contents to a boil, plain for all to see. He then stirred the liquid with another hand motion, waiting for the price to put two and two together.

'One Mississippi, two Mississippi…'

"_You're the avatar!" _Zuko rose, fists clenched._ "Come with me and there won't be any problems."_

He smirked before taking a sip of tea. _"Whatever you say your highness_." Dante glanced at Iroh, who had watched the exchange with interest. At first he doubted the youth could actually do what he stated, despite his old friends assurances to the contrary. To be able to heat water without being a fire bender was unheard of.

Dante was led away by the guards, but due to his co-operation they simply placed their hands on his shoulders instead of shackling him. Not very bright, were they? Oh well, it made his next move that much easier. The captors and freshly minted prisoner climbed up the rope ladder. At the top he surveyed who was left on the boat. A quick peek over the railing confirmed Zuko and Iroh were still ascending, and Cap gave the all clear signal. Dante grabbed the guards arm and pulled the man over his shoulder without much effort. The second was immobilized with an unexpected roundhouse kick to the side of the head a fraction of a second later. The heavy helmet saved him from serious injury, but there was no doubt the man would have a head splitting headache when he woke. Zuko had just popped over the side of the hull to see the second guard get his ass handed to him followed by his prize taking off. Dante sprinted towards the back of the large metal ship, his boots pounding on the deck as he ran. There were few others to block his way, and for once the football practices all those years ago in High school were paying off. At the stern, he leapt off the guard rail and into the drink without even slowing down. The water bender immediately located the ships screw and steering mechanism, froze the whole lot of it, and broke the surface next to the small sail boat. Cap was ready, reached out, and the two clasped arms before pulling the wet Canadian aboard. Dante didn't even bother to dry off. He immediately began to wave his arms like two pinwheels and the ship lurched forward. The older water bender looked at him like with a mixture of awe and amusement before mimicking Dante's motions. Katara soon popped up as well and helped, while Sokka took the helm and Maria kept an eye on the disabled Fire nation boat.

With the assistance of the main sail and a strong tail wind, the small cargo boat made excellent time. A mere two hours after the incident Maria shouted that there was land ahead. Cap estimated that they were on the western shores of the Earth Kingdom, in an area that fell under fire nation control almost thirty years ago. There was also a port nearby, one extensively used by the fire nation navy.

"_Hey Cap, I need to talk to you."_ The lotus member briefly looked at the Canuck before concentrating on the sea charts again. _"Go ahead Dante."_

"_Zuko's ship will most likely be back in action by now, and I'll bet you a dozen pig chickens that he's pushing his boat to the raggedy edge just to catch up. Is there an inlet we can sail into around here? We need to lay low for a day or so." _

Cap nodded. _"I've identified a few notable locations before you interrupted me."_

Dante paused. _"Well, good to know were on the same wavelength." _The BC native paused, mulling over his next response. _"Listen Cap, I'm sorry for lying to you. If the Dai Li hadn't been hot on my tail, I would…"_

"_I appreciate the effort kid, but if you want to redeem yourself words alone aren't going to cut it. You can start by scrubbing the deck."_

Dante hung his head in defeat and turned to leave. _"Very well"_

oOo

"_In addition to the frozen rudder there is also damage to the screw, causing it to wobble if we exceed twenty knots. The expanding ice it seemed put excessive pressure on the main Propeller shaft. The repairs need to be completed at a port with a dry-dock. Fortunately Earth Kingdom Harbor was less than a day's journey from our current location."_ The chief engineer finished his report to the prince and captain, eager to get out of the ill-tempered young man's sight and back to his engine room.

Zuko was furious. Over three years of searching, and when they finally had him the Avatar got away. What a fool he'd been. Why hadn't he tied the bastard up immediately?

"_Cheer up Prince Zuko. At least we are no longer chasing a ghost around without any real clues."_

Iroh had a real gift when it came to pep talks. Somehow, without raising his voice or using a condescending tone, he managed to make the Price fly off the handlebars every time he opened his mouth.

Zuko stormed out of the bridge before he charred his uncle along with the whole bridge crew.

Out on the stern of the steel vessel, the frustrated Royal ran through a series of fire bending Katas trying to blow some steam. Iroh eventually followed him, but remained silent as the youth continued to perform ever more difficult moves.

The breeze felt good on his sweaty skin. The workout had cooled his temper to a point where he was no longer felt the urge to yell at random subordinates. Zuko finished and headed to his quarters, ignoring the halfhearted attempt by his uncle to talk to him at the entrance to the ship. He felt a pang of guilt which he quickly dismissed. There was nothing further to be said.

oOo

The small wooden sailboat was moored several dozen meters from shore in a small inlet that curved around a sizable outcrop in the coastline. From the open ocean it was impossible to see, which was why they were here. Darkness was descending upon them, putting an exploratory re-provisioning mission on hold until morning. The group wasn't hurting for food or water, but Sokka and Dante were itching to get some real meat that wasn't dried and covered in sea salt.

The next morning the duo set out, promising to Katara and Maria that they wouldn't get in trouble, or lost, or both. Predictably, they came back empty handed almost twelve hours later. Sokka grumbled in annoyance when the girls greeted him, while Dante made a weak effort at interaction before turning in as well.

The young Canuck woke the next morning feeling stiff and cold. It was still fairly chilly in the mornings, so he bundled up a heavy sweater and pants before heading topside. Cap was in the mess and from the looks of things in no mood to talk, so he froze himself a narrow ice dock and walked to shore.

Yesterday he and Sokka had discovered a few dozen steaming thermal pools nearby. Dante was more than looking forward to taking a nice long soak in one of them. He even brought shampoo and body wash, a rare treat he had far too few opportunities to use. The South Pole had been cold, but at least it was dry. Here the moisture from the trees and sea made the weather miserable, kind of like Vancouver in the winter.

He quickly scrubbed his head and body before entering the spring.

The pools were a bit hot, but that was fixed with some volleyball sized ice cubes. He couldn't suppress a satisfied sigh when he slipped below the wispy surface and settled onto a hot rock. The thermal spring reminded him of the Lussier Hot springs nestled in the Canadian Rockies. There was even a stream close by; though not nearly as large as river the springs were named after. In all likelihood no one had ever named these, or for that matter bathed in them. After all there were no roads nearby. The terrain simply didn't make it feasible. The minutes passed and with them the stiffness in his joints and muscles. Rain started to fall steadily, adding to the serenity of this place.

The rain masked the sound of the strangely dressed warriors approach, and the young man had no clue that anyone was behind him until a razor sharp golden fan suddenly came to rest on his shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly.

"_Don't move"_ The voice was clearly female, and the part of the ornamental fan Dante could see looked familiar. He had an idea of who was behind him, but held his tongue for the time being.

"_Get up!"_ He hesitated, but the command was loud and clear. _"Now"_ she hissed.

Dante rose, hands held up in a non-threatening manner.

"_Get dressed. If you try anything, you're dead."_ The young man complied, fan still pressed close to deter any attacks. That done, the unknown woman behind him withdrew, allowing him to turn and face his captor. Green robes and pasty white faces greeted him.

"_Kyoshi Warriors"_, he muttered just loud enough for them to hear. _"This is the main land. What are you doing here?"_

"_Quiet!"_, the girl with short brown hair bellowed. _"We'll be the ones asking the questions here!"_

Dante snorted in amusment. _"Whatever you say lady."_ He was confident that with the soaked ground and nearby stream any engagement would be in his favor.

Her eyes narrowed. _"Who are you and what are you doing around these parts?"_

He shrugged. _"I'm just a traveler passing through."_

"_Highly unlikely, considering you have only the cloths on your back. Now try again, and if you lie I'm going to have my girls here punish you."_

"_What kind of punishment did you have in mind"? _Dante waggled his eyebrows in a playful manner. Suki nodded and the tall skinny girl fell into a fighting stance.

The Water bender scratched the back of his head with a sigh. _"For Pete's sake woman, I didn't lie to you. My camp is closer to shore. I have no reason to stay here…wherever here is."_ He looked around, waving his arms towards the tree's to get his point across.

"_Lead us there!"_ There was no compromise in her tone. Dante knew these girls were good people, but damn, if she didn't get her attitude in check he would put her over his knee!

"_How bout no"_, he replied, folding his arms in defiance.

"_Excuse me?"_

"_Iv'e heard only good things about the Kyoshi Warriors, but the lot of you doesn't seem to fit the description." _Dante folded his fingers behind his head._ "For all I know you could be imposters. Why would I willingly lead you to my camp?"_

"_Willingly?"_ The leader laughed. _"You make it sound like I asked you stranger."_

"_You would have actually gotten somewhere if you had_", he retorted. And with hat he went on the offensive, pulling the water out of one of the hot spring pools and blasting it into an unsuspecting girl perched on top of a nearby tree. Suki rushed him, but Dante was in no mood for hand to hand combat. A slick layer of ice formed between the charging girl and himself, causing her to lose her balance when she stepped on it. Dante quickly pulled her down and pinned her arm behind her back, her own Dagger pressed against her throat.

"_Back off!"_, he yelled when her fellow warriors tried to aid their leader. _"You try anything and she gets it!"_

The girl glared at him from her new position below him but remained quiet. The rest of them stood close by, fans drawn and ready to pounce. It was eerily quiet save for the gentle splashing of rain on the leaves and ground.

"_I'll let her go if you drop the hostility, ok?"_ After a few moments he released her arm and stepped away, dagger still at the ready should she try again. Suki was up in a split second but made no new move to attack him.

"_My name is Dante Webber, and my shipmates and I are on the run from the fire nation. We have been using an inlet close by to lay low over the last few days."_

The short haired warrior didn't immediately respond, causing Dante to expect another fight. Much to his relief however she lowered her fans, followed shortly after by the rest of the group. They didn't speak, and before things got awkward he continued.

"_C'mon, I'll walk you to the boat. Try not to pick a fight with the water tribe boy though. He can be a bit of an ass sometimes."_

Dante bent the water from his wet cloths and set out towards shore. He paused a few steps later and dried the girl he'd soaked as well, getting a nervous glance from her and the others. Having water pulled from your skin and cloths was a strange feeling. It left them stiff and scratchy.

"_You're a water bender."_ It was more of an observation than a question, but Dante replied none the less.

"_I am. Is there something wrong with that?"_

"_No, it's just I've never seen one."_ Dante gave her a big smile_. "Well, you can scratch that off your bucket list, right?"_

"_A what?" _He was expecting that one._ "A bucket list." _The tone sounded matter-of-factly_. "It's a term for the things you want to see or do before you die."_

"_I can't say I've ever heard of that saying before." _

Dante chuckled. _"C'mon. We're almost there."_

There was movement on the wooden sail ship, though Dante couldn't make out which of his shipmates it was. He froze another walking path over the calm water with the flick of a wrist.

"_After you ladies"_. The group of seven girls walked over the rough textured ice in single file, curiously looking at the icy pier.

Cap was waiting on the deck, arms crossed in a defensive manner.

"_Hey cap, I ran into some company this morning."_

The Kyoshi all bowed before Suki addressed Cap. _"Honored elder, it is good to see you again."_ Dante looked at Suki, then Cap, finally back at Suki. _"Wait, you know each other? So that little spat we had in the forest was pointless?" _He looked at the girl who he'd blasted out of the tree earlier before laughing nervously. She didn't look impressed.

Introductions were made, and thankfully Sokka kept his big mouth shut. Sparring with Maria had really helped with his rather sexist views on life. God only knows where he picked that up from.

Suki explained why her group was on the mainland. Apparently Kyoshi Island was attacked by the fire navy a few weeks ago without provocation. The girls it seemed were on an assassination mission to take out the fleet commander who authorized the raid. Dante wasn't surprised to hear it was a man named Zhao, though his rank was currently a mystery to him. Had he been promoted?

'Must have', he thought idly while continuing to listen to the short haired girl.

'_In the original timeline, Zhao became aware of the avatar after Zuko landed in the earth kingdom port due south of here.'_ But Dante hadn't damaged Zuko's ship like the avatar had (_yes he did_), so the commander should be unaware of Dante's fake identity (_oh yes he was_).

Either way, for the Kyoshi warriors to try their hand at assassination was strange indeed. Something big must have happened for them to resort to these measures.

"_How bad was the raid?" _Dante asked cautiously. Despite the full face makeup, he could see the sorrow and anger underneath crystal clear.

"_Raid is an understatement. Only a handful of our people survived, and we were forced from the island completely. Kyoshi Island is now a fire nation logistical hub, selected to support the opening of a new front in the south. We gleaned that much before we were forced out."_

Dante swore. This was NOT what was supposed to happen. Why would they take over a neutral island close to the largest fire nation port in a five hundred kilometer radius? Whatever was going on that island, it surly is not what these girls say it is. Unfortunately Dante could not go there to investigate. Time was running out, and he needed to get to the North Pole.

Cap took the news hard. It seemed he had been close friends with the village elder, a man called Oyaji. Kyoshi Island was a regular stop for the old sea bear before he semi-retired, and he knew a lot of the village folk from when they were just pint sized. Dante invited him to a spar to try and take his mind off the sad news, but his heart just wasn't in it today. For the rest of the day Dante watched Maria trade techniques with the rest of the girls, and occasionally joined in as a 'volunteer' after Sokka had made himself scarce. Then again who could blame him? The guy had been thrown around like a ragdoll all morning by those chicks after all.

Dinner was a mixed bag of emotions. It was clear that these girls had been through the wringer, and were still grieving. The young water tribe warrior provided some comic relief, but it was Katara and Maria who really consoled them the most. Cap had actually taken to drinking, and he wasn't talking about the regular shot of brandy he had before bed. The guy was really putting it back he observed. The BC native scratched the back of his head with a sigh before plopping down on the opposite side of the low table with a glass of his own, quickly filling it and tossing the first shot back. It burned all the way down. Normally he wouldn't touch liquor, but you don't just let a poor old man drink by himself when he's mourning. The inevitable hangover was a price he'd be willing to pay for that. Cap looked at him with a pained expression, but there was gratitude there as well. The lotus member exhaled loudly after another swig, his breath so infused with booze a Breathalyzer would have had a hard time determining his blood alcohol content.

Several hours and far too much booze later, the two were just sitting there, Cap smoking his pipe while Dante unsuccessfully tried to bend the ethanol out of his blood. Cap had to be carried to bed by Maria and himself, but Dante stood under his own weight (barley), unaware that the merc. was cooing over him more than usual. Sokka and Katara were still above deck with the group of warriors, who had begun to enjoy themselves. The Canuck was so inebriated that the usual warning flags never popped up in his foggy mind when the door closed behind them.

Maria pushed him down on the cot, ready to pounce.

"_Joanna?"_ he croaked in confusion. She acknowledged with a smooth 'Mhhhh' as she pulled his shirt off, already attacking his neck with hungry kisses. It seemed her interest in Sokka was a ploy to get his guard down.

"_I'm back Jo. I missed you so much."_ He was tearing up, and momentarily made the advantageous girl pause as he hugged her tightly.

She sighed in defeat. _'Even drunk as a raccoon-skunk he's still loyal to her. Do I really look like her?'_

The hug lasted long enough for her to make up her mind.

He began to twirl his index finger thru her handing locks, and gave her a genuinely happy smile.

"_All right sailor, it's time for you to hit the hay."_ She said before un-straddling him. Dante grunted in agreement, but as she stood to leave he grabbed her hand.

"_Stay"_, he murmured. Maria looked at him with mild surprise before caving, and settled beside him. He was out within a minute. That night the sleeping arrangements were a little skewed. Sokka was blessed enough to share the hay with no less than a dozen females. It would have been perfect, had his sister not been there as well. He'd have to rib Dante about the night's 'events' tomorrow.

oOo

In other news, Zuko still kicks Zhao's butt six ways from Sunday in the previous evenings Agni Kai. No big surprise there.

oOo

Just like last time, he had to pop an Advil before even attempting to get out of bed, and just like last time, the other guy who drank like a fish was completely fine.

'_Life really was unfair'_, he thought with a wince as he got up. Every creak seemed amplified a thousand fold, and what little light streamed thru the cracks between the deck boards stung his eyes. But he had to power thru it. From the sounds of it the morning was already well under way.

Suki and the girls were still here, though from the looks of it not much longer. He found most of them above deck, stowing their travel packs. _"Suki! I need to talk to you."_ His voice was barley above a whisper. She turned, mildly surprised and somewhat amused.

"_What is it Dante? Spirits, you look like a Cougar-Lynx had its way with you last night." _Maria, who was re-tying knots nearby froze to shoot the younger girl a death glare.

It was still to early for Dante to get the reference, and it was probably for the better that he didn't.

"_About your mission to take out Zhao, I was hoping you'd reconsider."_

She frowned, suddenly serious. _"Why?"_

"_Because if anything goes wrong you will either be killed or imprisoned. You said there were survivors from Kyoshi Island. What about them? They need you and your troop for protection. Don't throw away your life on some half backed revenge plan is all I'm saying." _

She stared at the Canadian for a good long while, at a loss of what to say. He was a relative stranger, yet here he was trying to talk them out of completing their plan out of concern for their wellbeing. What an odd man…

"_Look, the girls and I have put a lot of thought into this. We voted…unanimously…to do this. The rest of our people are safely hidden amongst friendly villages along the coast."_

"_And what about your warriors? If you all perish, who will continue on the Kyoshi Warrior tradition?"_

She looked down with shame. _"We failed to protect our people. If we cannot do even this, then our traditions are worthless. This is the only way in our eyes to redeem ourselves. I'm sorry Dante, but it's already been decided."_

And with that, she turned around and walked back towards her fellow warriors.

Dante looked down with sadness. _'Pride truly was the deadliest sin of them all' _he thought while continuing to watch the group pack up camp.

The Kyoshi Warriors left shortly after midday. The ship's crew was sad to see them go so soon. It had been nice to have company, even if they were extremely hard to distinguish the girls from one another. Deciding they had waited long enough, Cap guided the ship back towards the open ocean with the help of Dante and Katara. They were back on the road…so to speak.

oOo

Not a day after leaving the safety of the small inlet, the group came across a spine chilling sight. Dante mistook it for an oil rig, because the damn thing looked just like one. The massive steel structure was a good five kilometers from shore, perched on tall metal stilts, and moored around it were fire nation warships. It was the prison rig where earth benders were kept. It was belching smoke, silhouetted against the cream colored evening sky. It almost looked beautiful were it not for the fact that he knew the conditions its occupants were subjected to.

Cap was already changing course to avoid the monstrosity, but Dante objected.

"_Can you get underneath that thing? I want to take a peek."_ Cap looked at the younger man with concern.

"_It's dangerous", _he replied_. "But we are running low on supplies." _

He paused, a calculating look on his face._ "A quick in and out mission, that's all. No heroics. _The older man waved his finger at him._ "I have a feeling you know about this place already."_

Dante smirked. _"Fine"_

* * *

_Another chapter down! Not much to say about this. I was recently at a hot spring here in BC. They are gorgeous! Unfortunately it wasn't a natural one, but none the less a great experience after a hard weekend of Skiing. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and please review! I haven't gotten very many of those :'(_


	10. Chapter 9: Prison Rig Raid

The sounds of industrial work; metal banging on metal, low frequency humming machinery, and the occasional yelling could be heard as the wooden sail ship approached the base of the rig. It was noiseless save for the occasional creaking of its hull, propelled not by wind as usual but with people power in the form of two water benders. Dante was in full combat gear, tack vest stuffed with ammunition, grenades, and a few power bars. The 'official' plan was to infiltrate the rig, locate the supply areas, and take as much as possible.

From the get-go however, the young man had other plans. There were less than two dozen guards on the massive metal structure, and with a bit of strategy they (he) could take it over and free its prisoners.

Sokka, Katara and Maria wished him good luck, while Cap nodded before he leapt off the boat and onto a metal rod ladder bolted to one of the massive legs. The climb took several minutes, slowed by strong gusts that threatened to send the infiltrator tumbling back into the sea. The ladder terminated on a wide catwalk that seemed to wrap around the entire structure.

No guards were visible, but Dante swept the immediate area using night and thermal settings on his goggles just to be sure. He prowled the hallways for at least fifteen minutes, and got lost more than a few times. But the time was well spent in his opinion. He had a rough layout of the facility in his head, as well as locations of importance. The wardens quarters were located, as well as the guard common and bunk areas. He sealed the three separate entrances to that area by slipping pipes into the latching mechanism of the doors. Closing the doors proved to be difficult. Even with the WD-40 used to lubricate the hinges, they were so crude that the grinding they emitted almost woke the lightest sleeper amongst the guards.

That being done, when something did happen the bulk of the reinforcements should be unable to support the on duty guards. Next he visited the observation center, a crude versions of a control room. There were two personnel awake, monitoring the open grounds from high up. It had taken painfully long to circumvent their post on the way up, but to free the prisoners it was necessary to neutralize it. Dante noiselessly stepped into the room and Water whipped them into unconsciousness. Within seconds he was on his way to pay the warden a visit. His door was locked from the inside, but unlike the others it had no latching mechanism on the outside, only a primitive keyhole lock. He opened his canteen, and guided the water into and around the tumbler, freezing it solid. It wasn't perfect but would have to do.

The next stop was the inmates' cells. He encountered and dispatched two more guards on patrol during his way there. Really there shouldn't be that many more to deal with. The jailor was blissfully asleep in a rather uncomfortable looking chair, snoring shamelessly and rather loudly. Dante didn't want to kill the man, so he pistol whipped him over the head. Much to his surprise, the guy never even stopped snoring. _"What the hell?"_ He nudged the prone man with his foot, making sure he was out.

After liberating the keys from odd man, Dante started opening cell doors without much care for noise. Most of the inmates were in poor condition, and almost all of them were asleep. He felt bad of rousing already sleep deprived people, but it was now or never. The banging of the metal pipe on the bars was jarring, but it had the desired effect. Most woke immediately, though dazed. Dante waited for a good thirty seconds before he began.

"_Rise and Shine people, you're getting of this hunk of junk. The guards are gone, and there's a ship waiting by the water to take you to the mainland."_ Hollow faces with broken gazes stared at him, but there was one that stood out. He was a bulky bearded man in his mid to late forties. _"This is not a joke, get your asses in gear if you want to see your families again."_

"_You!"_ Dante pointed at the bearded man. _"You have a son named Haru. Do you want to see him again?"_ The answer was rhetorical.

"_Of course"_, he answered with a hard voice. _"Then help me rally these people. I assume you know the way to the dock underneath?"_

He nodded.

Dante emerged from below deck, followed by Tyro and a mass of ex-prisoners. Dante put down another guard who had come to investigate the commotion by the cells, this time with his rifle. The time for stealth was over.

The pair of gunshots echoed off the steel rig before dissipating into the quick night.

"_Sokka, this is Dante. There's been a slight change of plan. I'm coming to the dock with a bunch of Earth kingdom prisoners."_

The radio in the Water tribe warriors hand squawked before the magical box talked. _"Err, okay?" _he answered back while holding down the button on the side.

Cap looked mad, but Maria laughed. _"I told you he'd do it! Pay up old man!"_

Cap grumbled before handing over five copper pieces.

Tyro led Dante and the rest of the earth benders around the side of the rig, and down a narrow set of metal stairs. There were people at the bottom, and Dante unslung his rifle to take care of the threat. Fireballs streaked past the rushing mob, but no one panicked even as another pair of deafening cracks rang out.

The wooden sail ship had pulled up next to its larger metal counterpart.

Dante hurried back up the stairs and towards the kitchen. Winded, the fatigued young man began filling several large canvass bags with everything from dried meats to rice. Fruits, vegetables, even some liquor for Cap found its way into the bags. Sokka and Maria joined him and hauled away what they originally came here for.

Dante followed shortly after with the last of the supplies. Back on the ship he pulled a clear crystal bottle with amber liquid out of the bag and tossed it to Cap.

"_Got you a souvenir." _The grin on the young man's face was priceless.

Cap caught the bottle and snorted, his anger replaced by acceptance.

Tyro and the others quickly pulled away, yelling and shouting their thanks to the small crew of the wooden sail ship. Dante was pleasantly surprised that things had turned out so well. Usually s**t hit the fan whenever he tried to pull off something harder than cooking instant noodles. Who knew, maybe this was the start of new chapter?

Their freshly… 'Liberated' supplies took care of the food problem, but they were down to their last barrel of fresh water. Dante had tried (unsuccessfully thus far) to separate the salt out of the seawater. Today he was at it again, this time with Katara as his trusty lab assistant.

"_Hmmm" _

"_Dante, would you stop doing that! You look like my brother when you stroke your chin like that."_

He gave her an annoyed glare before dropping his hand.

Desalination is accomplished by forcing the water and salt solution through a fine membrane that doesn't allow the suspended sodium chloride molecules to pass through. Water bending couldn't seem to replicate this process. He'd been trying for a while now, which is why he asked Katara for help.

"_I need you to create fog. Lots and lots of fog.__"_ Katara looked at him in confusion before starting an odd looking kata, arms flailing more than anything.

Fog was indeed enveloping them rapidly, causing Sokka and Maria to come by. _"Hey, whatcha guys up to?"_

"_Trying to make freshwater"_, Dante answered without looking at either of them. He waved his hands in slow counter clockwise strokes, again and again until the bluish clear liquid could be seen in the misty air. He bent the liquid into a beat up metal pitcher, filling it halfway. _"Not much there, huh."_ Everyone was looking at the tiny amount that took several minutes to make.

"_Yeah"_, he agreed. _"I think it's time we hit a port and re-provision." _

Cap noted that the merchant pier was the closet stop that didn't deviate from their route. _"Well, that settles it." _Sokka shouted. _"Time to hit the seedy merchant pier!"_

oOo

They arrived at their destination around noon the next day. The port was nestled next to the mouth of a river that emptied into the ocean. A small sized earth kingdom fort, similar to the 19th century forts near the eastern North American coast could be seen towering over the small settlement, as well as a long dock that stretched into the small bay.

The port was busy. Very busy in fact. Due to the ships small size, they found a neglected looking pier and paid its owner for two days stay while the larger boats had to moor just outside the port harbor. It wasn't five stars, but it beat rowing a boat to get to and from land any day. Dante led ruffles from the ship. The poor bird had been cooped up in the cargo hold for almost two weeks now and seemed ecstatic to be on solid ground again. It was going to be a challenge to get it back aboard.

The group split up. Dante went to find a stable for his steed/poultry, Cap sought out a familiar acquaintance to resupply the ship with SAFE drinking water while Sokka, Katara and Maria were left to their own devices.

This proved to be bad choice, seeing as they found themselves several kilometers upstream of the river that night. But he'd get to that in a moment.

Dante saw that he'd become even more famous after the prison rig adventure, but it was too late to do anything about his appearance now. Both the fire nation and Earth Kingdom raised their bounties for him. Luckily it was alive only, so there was that at least. This place was crawling with mercs and bounty hunters, and as such he walked down the road with his rifle shouldered, safety off and finger on the trigger, despite years of discipline that taught him to do just the opposite. It didn't take long for him to have to make use of it either because a rather idiotic bunch tried to jump him in the middle of the god damn street. Six shot up knee caps later it was over, but the scene served as a reminder not to mess with him. It worked, though he was still being followed. Whoever it was never got close enough to be made, but his spidy senses were tingling. He ventured into the crowded market, but that didn't help. It was like trying to swim with a school of fish. Unless you were part of that group, they would always keep their distance.

Deciding he'd had enough, the young man shot forward with a burst of speed and sprinted for a good three blocks before slipping into an alleyway. There he raised an ice wall out of the open sewer and slipped into the side of another business.

After paying for another cloak with hood he meshed into the crowd, and began his journey back to the docks. Close to the ship however his tail reemerged. Dante was at a loss of what to do. It was already late afternoon, and soon he would have to head back lest the others go looking for him.

He walked to the end of the long stone wharf, and began to wait. His tail however never emerged from the cover of the dock warehouses. Finally he froze the surface of the water next to him and began walking across the harbor. Using the larger ships as cover, he made it back to Caps boat without further problems.

The old lotus member looked at him_. "What took you so long? I could have used some help bending all this water into the barrels."_

"_Sorry Cap, I had a tail that was rather hard to shake." _

Cap's frown deepened. _"You sure you weren't followed?"_

Dante folded his arms and snorted in amusement. _"Unless the guy can walk on water like me, I'm sure. Our location is safe."_

Not a second after saying that Sokka burst in.

"_We're in trouble! Katara lifted a water bending scroll off some shady merchant. Turns out they were pirates, and now they've followed us here."_

Dante smacked his forehead, while Cap cupped his head in his hands with a groan.

"_For the love of god…" _Dante muttered.

"_Well, if we cast off now they'll pursue us for sure."_ For once Cap beat Dante to the punch. _"You guys need to draw them away from the ship and loose them. Go upstream. Mark your location near the shore with a stack of stones. I'll play the Tsungi horn when I see it."_

Dante and sokka just stared at him.

"_You play the Tsungi horn?"_ they asked in unison.

"_Go now you idiots!"_ he hollered back.

The boys sprang into action. On deck it was a dicey situation. Maria was sword fighting with a number of them, while Katara held of pretty much everyone else. Dante joined the embattled group, confident that he wouldn't need to use his rifle for this. A net flew across the deck grounds and snagged the brunette mercenary, but Dante severed the line with a well-placed water whip before she could be dragged away. With a flurry of icicles and water lashes they beat back the sizable crew the pirates had. Sokka cut Maria out of her restraint, and all four of them b-lined it into the town, erecting ice walls as they went or when there were enough barrels available. Eventually the group did lose them, though it cost Dante another flash bang.

oOo

Later that day:

Iroh and Zuko were watching as crewmember after crewmember laden with items walked back to their ship. Iroh had been shopping all day long, but the lotus tile he was missing eluded him.

"_You bought a Tsungi horn?"_ Zuko asked skeptically.

"_For music night on the ship. Now if we only had some…"_

Zuko fell in line after his uncle, who was mumbling on and on about music night. Despite Zuko's vow not to go into any more stores, he followed his uncle onto a junk rig/shop run by some unsavory looking people.

He was on alert, and couldn't help but overhear one of the crew/employees report to who was presumably the captain.

"_We lost the water tribe girl, and the strange looking outlander she was with. He used some sort of a stun blast that…"_

Zukos eyes widened. _"This strangely dressed man, did he carry a black stick that shot fire?"_

Iroh for some reason made the strangest face behind the prince.

oOo

It was dark, they couldn't start a fire, and Katara had apologized for the 100th time give or take. Dante never thought she would actually steal that damn scroll while they were here. Heck, why would she need to?

"_Katara, you knew all of these moves already. Why on earth would you take a scroll you don't need?"_

"_Umm, what are you talking about?"_ She handed him the bound piece of paper. There _were_ water bending moves on here, but not the kind he had expected. These were advanced multi move techniques_.Stuff even he'd never seen before._

"_What the…?"_ He pulled out his camera and snapped a picture with the flash. It was too damn dark to make out the ink lines clearly. He stared at the small LCD screen for a few minutes.

"_Huh, well I'll be damned."_ He looked up at her. _"I take it back, good job Katara." _

She beamed at him. Sokka on the other hand was not too happy. _"Don't encourage her!"_

"_All right guys, let's get some shuteye." _Dante was in no mood for further squabbling, so he ignored Sokka's comment_. "Cap will hopefully show up tomorrow morning and we can be on our way."_

oOo

Halfway through the night, the urge to try and practice came over the petite water bender. Everyone was asleep, allowing her to sneak out of camp and headed for the river. But after two hours and the umpteenth attempt to clear the next move she became frustrated. Minutes later Katata heard an unnatural sound. Some kind of jarring metal scraping sound. She approached the source of the noise and peeked through the bushes, only to find a seemingly empty fire nation patrol boat. She gasped and quickly turned to run away, only to bump right into one of the massive pirates they had outrun in town earlier. He grabbed hold of her, but she managed to smack him in the face with a half botched water whip.

She ran again, only to be subdued by none other than the prince himself. He learnt from the pirates' unfortunate experience and grabbed the girl's small wrists tightly. Ever the charmer, Zuko proclaimed in a not so friendly voice that he was here to save her from the pirates.

Predictably Katara found herself tied to a tree, and Zuko was holding the scroll hostage from the pirates. They fanned out, determined to find the rest of the group and reclaim their prize from the bratty prince.

oOo

If Dante had learnt one thing since coming here, it would be to expect trouble at any moment. Therefore he'd never actually gone to sleep that night. It sucked, because one of his favorite things to do was sleep, but there was no helping it. Knowing his luck, events were unfolding just as in the canon, which meant that…yup, there she went. Dante followed her silently, careful to avoid any dry twigs that might give him away. He was perched high in a tree that overlooked a good portion of the river bank she occupied. A few hours into her 'training' the pirate's junk rig and a fire nation patrol boat crept up the river. It seemed the prince had actually gotten a lead off those pirates. Dante cursed. This was going to be interesting.

The cool headed Canuck remained in position as Katara was caught, and subsequently tied up. After a brief 'conversation' between the crown prince and the captain, the crew dispersed into the woods. A small amount of pirates remained along with the fire nation crew from Zuko's ship. While the hidden Water bender was considering his options though something unexpected happened. The pirate who had been water whipped approached Katara! Dante had a very bad feeling about this, and from the looks of it he wasn't the only one. Zuko had kept a close eye on the Blue eyed girl throughout the night. He held back at first, but when the Katara began to squirm against the far to close shirtless man he sprang into action. Dante had unslung his weapon and aimed it loosely at the group now. Any further and he was going to pop this sucker.

"_What do you think you're doing?"_ Zukos voice bellowed, and for once it actually drew relief from the brunette.

"_This little bitch drew blood. I was going to return the favor, if you know what I mean."_ Katara shivered at the statement, and even Zuko looked disgusted.

"_Step away from her, or I'll kill you on the spot."_ His voice was as serious as ever, but the pirate remained un-phased. He growled at the prince, whose clenched fists erupted in fire to emphasize that he meant it.

The Pirate glared at the ponytailed boy before walking away. Katara's shoulders slumped with relief. Zuko looked at her with a worried expression that asked; 'you all right?' Of course he would never admit to it, but she nodded timidly in gratitude.

Dante relaxed as well. He heard the confrontation between them loud and clear, and almost lost it when he heard the pirates' last statement. The soft click of the safety being engaged never left the tree's canopy.

Not long after Sokka and Maria were led out of the woods, hands tied. One of the pirates had a nice black eye and bloody nose, no doubt from the busty merc.

All the pieces were in place. Well, almost all of them.

"_Where is the Outlander peasant?"_ Zuko deliberately reworded Dante's title to keep the pirates in the dark.

"_Hey, don't look at me. When your cronies nabbed us he wasn't there. I have no idea where he is."_

Dante chose that moment to slip out of the tree and landing close by, much to their surprise. Weapon raised, he addressed both the captain and Prince.

"_It seems we all have something the other wants. Thing is, I'm in no mood to be taken captive by any of you. Release my friends and I might not dye this river with your blood."_

"_Who do you think you are, punk!"_ This came from the pirate who wore glossy red lipsticks and had dreads.

Deciding this was as good a time as any, the male water bender pulled water over the bank of the river about six inches deep. Within seconds that water turned into a dense mist. Visibility dropped to a mere feet. First he dealt with Zuko and his guard. Water tendrils grabbed the men by their ankles and flung them out into the river. Identifying them was easy. Thay all radiated heat in far greater quantities that the pirates did.

The prince however severed his connection with a fire burst, and landed without any harm close to shore. Dante was unaware of this, and began displacing the fog with very small tunnels of clear air. Most of the pirates never even knew what hit them. Again and again his rifle barked, until he could feel only a handful of life signs thru the mist. The water rose once more and dragged the corpses into the river. There was no need for the kids to see his work when the mist cleared.

The pirate captain was stunned to see most of his crew gone. Likewise, Zuko also seemed rattled at how quickly he'd dispatched so many men. Before the young fire bender could go on the offensive though the Pirate Captain sprang into action and attacked Zuko, while the remainder of his men charged at Dante. Exited to try his new techniques, he unleashed a flurry of pro bending moves on the unsuspecting thugs. The quick light jabs of water worked excellent, incapacitating the half dozen or so pirates in under a minute. One of them however he spared. It was the shirtless guy who threatened his crewmate. Dante summoned a good quantity of water, coiled it around him in thin wisps before spinning multiple times. The water lashed out due to the centrifugal force and cut the bastard to ribbons. Deep gauges were left in the smooth rocks around the shredded corpse.

Katara's eyes went wide. She recognized what Dante had just done. It was one of the techniques depicted on the scroll she had stolen. The outcome was horrible. That man didn't even look human any more. She had to turn away, lest she loose last night's meager dinner. Zuko and the Captain paused their match to observe the tail end of the attack. With one look at one another they set their fight aside and focused on the larger threat. The captain didn't last long when dozens of icicles bored themselves into his torso, arms and head. Zuko stepped back, horrified at the amount of violence this Avatar was willing to dish out.

With the pirates gone, Dante's Combat knife embedded itself into a nearby tree with a audible 'thunk'. _"Sokka, Maria, get your ropes off and untie Katara." _The two worm-crawled their way to the knife._ "I'll handle this one."_

Iroh had watched the exchange with surprise. He did not expect the water bender to employ such drastic measures for this scuffle. The experienced general was ready to intervene were it not for the fact that Dante had sparred all of his nephew's crew, many of which he was friends with. They were even now pulling themselves on shore, having shed their heavy armor in the river in order to remain afloat. Even while fighting, the strange young man had found the time to save one of the men who struggled to stay above the surface with a large piece of ice.

He had compassion, and Iroh remembered what the water bender had said before. Zuko was important. No, Iroh concluded. Zuko was safe.

Now it was Fire bender against Water bender. The duel began with the Canadian sidestepping a series of fist launched fire bursts. An equal number of water jabs were sloppily dodged by the fire nation prince, but he recovered quickly and began a series of rigorous attacks, designed to close the distance between attacker and opponent without a chance for counter attack. Indeed Dante was hard-pressed to find an opening, but he didn't need to. Katara had been cut loose in more ways than one, and now it was Zuko who was on the defense. She wasn't holding back either from the looks of things. Zuko continued to get pushed back, to the point where Iroh had to step out of the way lest he get soaked. Dante took a few moments to encase the metal patrol boat in ice before launching the price into the drink with a water cannon attack that would have put a Blastoise to shame. With the fight over, the group hurried to the pirate ship. Dante paused when he passed Iroh, and handed him his white lotus tile, which had fallen out during the scuffle. The general chuckled and offered his thanks.

"_C'mon Dante, let's go!"_ Sokka yelled from atop the boat. He waved them off.

"_How are you progressing with that phone I gave you?_"

"_Excellent! I am not yet finished. Actually, I haven't even gotten this far. It would have saved me a lot of time in finding my Pai Sho piece."_

Dante chuckled. _"Yes it would have. Sorry for making you have to walk back."_

He waved goodbye and floated the ship from the river bank. _"See you later Iroh!"_

The elderly man waved back before the ship turned with a bend in the river.

'_What an odd young man'_, Iroh thought before helping his soaked Nephew to shore.

Shortly after Cap picked them up. The Pirate junk rig was grounded on the side of the river, and its treasury looted. They estimated they had a one day head start on the Prince. Not too much, so they may be forced to camp out in another secluded bay for a few days.


	11. Chapter 10:Unexpected reunions

The mercury had plummeted into the negatives in recent days, which meant once again breaking out the winter gear. They had passed their last stationary reference point, a tiny spit of land two days ago. Now the little cargo boat was navigating around large ice bergs and floes, needle still pointing steadily north but with no land in sight. The ship offered no protection from the cold, which seemed even worse than when they were at the South Pole. It made sense because it was winter up here, as opposed to summer down there. The parkas did their jobs, but being subjected to the cold day in and out was no way to live. And that's saying something coming from a CANADIAN! Damn, he couldn't wait to go to the fire nation!

At one point Dante seriously considered trying to heat up the ocean, that's how bad it was getting. Reason and logic won however. Having a relatively small pocket of hot water in an otherwise cold ocean would probably kill them. God only knew what the interaction between the two masses would be. The hammocks offered no warmth either. If anything being suspended in an icebox of a room only made it worse. Sokka agreed, and soon after both boys joined ruffles in the hay. At least it was warm…er.

He grumbled when Cap ordered him above deck to de-ice the ropes and sail for the third time that morning. Heating water skins with his bending helped keep the chill away. Up on deck however the Canuck noticed that he was not alone. Water benders had the ship surrounded. Dante would have probably gotten wet if he wasn't wearing a blue fur lined coat and pants. As such they were only rude and suspicious. He was asked several times if he was a fire nation spy because of his fair complexion (fair was relative compared to these people. Dante still had a wicked tan from hoofing it across the continent for almost three weeks)

A Water bending demonstration proved them wrong. He WANTED to hurl them overboard like skipping rocks, but that would have hurt relations and might have gotten them banned before even entering the city, so he restrained himself.

Speaking of city, damn was it ever large. The main wall alone must have been a good fifteen meters tall. A number of water benders opened up the massive ice gates and helped usher them inside. It had nothing on the Panamanian or Suez locks that lifted super tankers, but those used steel and science, not bending. Cap docked in the port past the water locks, and an escort of Northern Water tribe warriors led them through the city and towards the palace. They moved quickly, but the locals could definitely tell that there were new people in town. It didn't seem to happen very often, judging from the tribe's isolationist policy. Sokka was ogling the princess, though Maria was quick to make him pay for looking.

The group was brought before the Tribes chief, a man named Arnook. He rose from his icy throne after the guard briefed him on the day's events. He had seriousness to him.

"_You and your ship trespassed into our territorial waters. Who are you, and why are you here?"_

Everyone looked at Dante, who took his queue to step forward.

"_Honored Chief Arnook"_, Dante began with a bow. _"We have come from the Southern Water Tribe in search of a Water Bending master. With your permission the water benders amongst us would like to study under him."_

The chief took the news well, and ordered a celebratory feast be held for their honored guests. Dante recognized Pakku, the expert water bender sitting next to the chief. He looked unconvinced of all of this. Days prior he had already informed Katara of the North's reluctance to teach females, though he quickly soothed her ruffled feathers by stating he would teach her everything he learnt by proxy, much like Aang had tried. While he trained Katara would learn healing, something Dante was eager to try as well should he possess the gift. She agreed reluctantly, but gave Pakku the stink eye when she sat in front of the council.

The feast was truly amazing. Everyone stuffed themselves after being on a restricted diet for over two weeks. The group was getting quite a bit of attention from the rest of the table. Between Sokka and Maria's antics (they were feeding each other food for some reason) and Dante's overall appearance it was no surprise.

"_One glass!"_ he held up his index finger to emphasize. "_You're minors, and I'm not about to let you both get plastered on my watch, ya hear" _

They both nodded eagerly.

"_Okay, go."_ He dismissed them with a wave. The water tribe siblings both grabbed their cups, and downed the contents greedily. Their faces upon tasting the brandy like liquid were priceless, and thanks to his camera captured forever.

"_Not that great, is it?"_ he asked with a barley suppressed grin. The coughs and gags the two made where answer enough. Cap and Maria laughed, as did a number of nearby Northerners.

Later on Pakku and his students performed for the guests, though Katara thoroughly trash talked everything they did loud enough for some of the group to hear. Dante attempted to play mediator, but in the end it turned into a huge spat between the feisty water bender and the older master.

Katara, ever the lady suggested they take this outside. Pakku actually agreed, by which point Dante wondered if he was even in the right story anymore.

'_Where on earth had she picked up this attitude?'_ he thought as they walked outside.

The palace steps turned into makeshift bleachers, and the party guests sat down, eager to see an actual water bending duel. Many carried alcohol, and the growing crowd cheered when the first blows were exchanged. Dante was surrounded by this world's version of Soccer hooligans it seemed.

Katara was angry, and as a result her attacks had a great deal of force behind them. What Pakku lacked in intensity he made up for in experience. Numerous times the older bender had her on the defensive during the match, where Katara was only spared because of her age and agility. Cap's crew shouted attacks and words of encouragement, while Pakku's students did much the same. The water disks were a nice touch, and forced Pakku to take the young girl seriously. She deflected his massed attack and took a page from Dante's book, unleashing a series of sharp, precise pro bending punches and kicks. Pakku was unprepared for the new technique, and was hit by more than a few of the attacks.

He staggered back, recovered, and went all out. His signature move was a water whirlpool in which he was perched, raining down punishment on any that opposed him. Katara fought valiantly, but in the end he did win. A blast of water hit her in the side, and knocked her braid off. The betrothal necklace she wore also went flying, skidding to a stop by Pakku's feet.

"_That necklace…"_ he mumbled absently. Katara was still trying to recover, but heard his statement clearly. _"Give that back. It's was my mothers, and she got it from her mother!"_

Pakku picked it up gingerly, and looked at Katara more closely. _"You're… Kanna's granddaughter?"_

Katara was upright, though her hair was a mess. _"I am. What's it to you?"_

He looked back down at the piece in his hand, and ran his thumb over the familiar grooves. _"I made this for Kanna almost 60 years ago, before she left."_

The revelation surprised Katara, as well as her brother. Dante pretended to be surprised just to fit in.

"_You know my Gran,Gran?"_

Pakku handed Katara the necklace before turning and leaving. Obviously he didn't want to talk about the matter any further. The guests had already returned inside sans the group. Sokka walked up to his sister and wrapped an arm around her._ "Nicely done sis. C'mon, let's get back inside. They're about to serve dessert!"_

Later on they were shown to a spacious 'ice house' if you will. It was still cold, but the furs on the raised sleeping platforms looked inviting. Cap retreated to his private bedroom, while the girls took another. That left Dante and Sokka with the third.

The Water bender liked sleeping on the soft warm furs. For the first time in over a week, he felt comfortably warm when sleeping. Oh yes, he would definitely have to buy a few of these in the coming days.

The next morning Katara and Dante headed to Yogouda, the old woman in charge of the healing hut. She welcomed them both inside, and gestured for them to sit.

"_So, are you here to learn how to heal using water bending?_" They both nodded, causing one of her eyebrows to quip in surprise. _"You as well young man?_ _It is uncommon for males to wish to learn Water healing._"

Dante shrugged.

"_Knowing first aid is an invaluable thing when on the battlefield. Anyone who refuses to learn such a valuable skill is a fool in my opinion."_

Yogouda hummed in agreement before getting started._ "Have either of you ever healed before?" _They both shook their heads. _"Well then, we have to see if you have the gift then. "_ Katara passed with ease, but Dante took a few minutes of coaxing before the water glove he had begun to glow a faint blue. Nothing like Katara's glow stick water, but hey, it was something. Water healing is rare even amongst water benders. He was truly blessed to have the ability.

The lesson ended and Yogouda gave them directions to the market. On the way out a group of Women passed, on their way to the healing class it seemed. One of them smiled at the pair, and Dante couldn't help but smile back out of politeness. On the way to the markets one of Pakku's students found them, and informed them that his teacher wanted a word with both of them. Dante looked down towards the shorter water bender and shrugged, indicating it was her choice. Katara reluctantly followed the student to the same area where they had their earlier duel. The ice was put back the way it was, though there now seemed to be chairs for Pakku's pupils to sit on.

He currently finished mopping the floor with one of them before turning around and addressing the two newcomers.

"_Though incredibly rude, yesterday you have shown a great deal of skill when it came to offensive water bending. I've decided to take you under my wing, should you choose to accept."_ Katara crossed her arms in thought. Before she could reply, Dante interrupted.

"_Master Pakku, would you be willing to teach me as well?"_

Pakku acknowledged Dante for the first time. _"And who might you be?"_ He asked skeptically.

"_I'm the one who taught Katara the water jabs you had the pleasure of experiencing last night. How's the jaw by the way?" _

Pakku frowned at the snarky comment, but let it slide. _"Very well, you may join as well. But only if she accepts."_

Katara looked up, surprised at his last statement.

"_All right, I'll do it."_ And with that she formally bowed in typical water tribe fashion. Dante followed suit, though he didn't really want to. _'Arrogant prick. I'll bet I could take him easy'_

"_All right…Dante", _the old man said with indifference_. "I saw what Katara could do last night. Now it's your turn. Impress me"_

Dante smirked before liquefying the ground beneath Pakku's feet. The older water bending master sank into the ice-cold water about 3 feet before catching himself. A series of quick water jabs were deflected by the aging man before he disappeared below the ice altogether. Dante didn't wait for him to resurface, and launched himself high into the air using a buckling ice slab from the ground. The move was very Earth bender, but when you had several hundreds of feet of solid ice beneath your feet it actually worked quite well. Pakku emerged mere seconds later and blasted his last location with a torrent of icy water. The younger bender regained his balance in midair and created an ice slide which he rode back down. Icicles were launched as he skidded past the stunned students, but Pakku liquefied them and returned them with interest in the form of a water whip. The Canadian ducked, and raised a perfect replica of himself out of the ice. The human shaped mass of water made the older bender pause, but not for long. Dante controlled it by using shadow boxing. Any movement Dante made it would as well. The water warrior stomped it foot, and a series of square ice blocks popped out of the ground before it launched them at its opponent. Pakku had to dodge the last one after pulverizing the first two.

Even Katara didn't know about Dante's recent advancements and watched with a mixture of awe and jealously. The duel raged for, drawing quite the crowd of onlookers. Pakku didn't want to resort to his whirlpool move for the same time in _two_ fights, but from the looks of it he would need to for this opponent. He had no idea that a water bender so powerful existed outside of the North. Dante too was getting ready to unleash his final move. Most of the pieces were already in place. The last thing was to buy enough time for him to assemble them. Ten seconds is what he needed, tops! He raised a thick layer of mist from the ice around him just as the whirlpool was starting to take off. The slide he'd created partially melted to reveal massive wings. The ice was honeycombed for structural rigidity and strength. He slotted the pieces together just as the mist began to dissipate. The whirlpool was now in full swing, and wind carried most of the mist away.

Suddenly out of the wispy soup rose what looked like a dragon! Scratch that, it was a Dragon, and its rider was Mr. Webber in the flesh! The ice beast was held aloft by beating its massive wings. It gained altitude, glided in circles for a few moments before swooping down towards the terrified looking Master Water bender. The sharp ice talons tore through the spinning water and grabbed the panicked older man around the waist. Dante was pushing the limits of his endurance, but it was so worth it in his opinion. He'd trained in secret for the last two weeks in order to do this. The last time he flew was just before they left the abbey. Everyone was so focused on Bato they didn't even know when he left to work on his technique.

Well, it paid off. The ice dragon was far from being perfect, but it didn't look like a stick figure anymore either.

He swung the ice beast back around and landed with a strong gust of wind from the monstrosity's wings.

Pakku was released, and staggered back towards the rest of the equally stunned group. The Canadian stood on the sculptures back, looking down at them. In one last show of awe, the beast huffed and blew steam from its nostrils before the liquid joints froze and it became ridged.

The thoroughly exhausted young man hoped off and walked towards the stunned group with outstretched arms. Black spots exploded in his peripheral vision.

"_Impressed now?"_

Seconds later the world went dark around him…

* * *

All right, allow me to explain the whole Ice Dragon thing before you consider me insane. The idea came to me when creating a (reasonable) timeline of events. Unfortunately for the Gang, there is no fly sky bison for them to get around with. As such, I've been looking for a semi explainable alternative mode of transportation to use for getting around. The earth kingdom continent is huge. I'm talking Pangea huge, if gravity is the same and the Avatar earth is the same size(though the way these kids jump around in the show it must be around half.) Anyway, having something that flies will help them reach their destinations within the time limits set in the canon.


	12. Chapter 11:Arrival the Nrtn Water Tribe

The mercury had plummeted into the negatives in recent days, which meant once again breaking out the winter gear. They had passed their last stationary reference point, a tiny spit of land two days ago. Now the little cargo boat was navigating around large ice bergs and floes, needle still pointing steadily north but with no land in sight. The ship offered no protection from the cold, which seemed even worse than when they were at the South Pole. It made sense because it was winter up here, as opposed to summer down there. The parkas did their jobs, but being subjected to the cold day in and out was no way to live. And that's saying something coming from a CANADIAN! Damn, he couldn't wait to go to the fire nation!

At one point Dante seriously considered trying to heat up the ocean, that's how bad it was getting. Reason and logic won however. Having a relatively small pocket of hot water in an otherwise cold ocean would probably kill them. God only knew what the interaction between the two masses would be. The hammocks offered no warmth either. If anything being suspended in an icebox of a room only made it worse. Sokka agreed, and soon after both boys joined ruffles in the hay. At least it was warm…er.

He grumbled when Cap ordered him above deck to de-ice the ropes and sail for the third time that morning. Heating water skins with his bending helped keep the chill away. Up on deck however the Canuck noticed that he was not alone. Water benders had the ship surrounded. Dante would have probably gotten wet if he wasn't wearing a blue fur lined coat and pants. As such they were only rude and suspicious. He was asked several times if he was a fire nation spy because of his fair complexion (fair was relative compared to these people. Dante still had a wicked tan from hoofing it across the continent for almost three weeks)

A Water bending demonstration proved them wrong. He WANTED to hurl them overboard like skipping rocks, but that would have hurt relations and might have gotten them banned before even entering the city, so he restrained himself.

Speaking of city, damn was it ever large. The main wall alone must have been a good fifteen meters tall. A number of water benders opened up the massive ice gates and helped usher them inside. It had nothing on the Panamanian or Suez locks that lifted super tankers, but those used steel and science, not bending. Cap docked in the port past the water locks, and an escort of Northern Water tribe warriors led them through the city and towards the palace. They moved quickly, but the locals could definitely tell that there were new people in town. It didn't seem to happen very often, judging from the tribe's isolationist policy. Sokka was ogling the princess, though Maria was quick to make him pay for looking.

The group was brought before the Tribes chief, a man named Arnook. He rose from his icy throne after the guard briefed him on the day's events. He had seriousness to him.

"_You and your ship trespassed into our territorial waters. Who are you, and why are you here?"_

Everyone looked at Dante, who took his queue to step forward.

"_Honored Chief Arnook"_, Dante began with a bow. _"We have come from the Southern Water Tribe in search of a Water Bending master. With your permission the water benders amongst us would like to study under him."_

The chief took the news well, and ordered a celebratory feast be held for their honored guests. Dante recognized Pakku, the expert water bender sitting next to the chief. He looked unconvinced of all of this. Days prior he had already informed Katara of the North's reluctance to teach females, though he quickly soothed her ruffled feathers by stating he would teach her everything he learnt by proxy, much like Aang had tried. While he trained Katara would learn healing, something Dante was eager to try as well should he possess the gift. She agreed reluctantly, but gave Pakku the stink eye when she sat in front of the council.

The feast was truly amazing. Everyone stuffed themselves after being on a restricted diet for over two weeks. The group was getting quite a bit of attention from the rest of the table. Between Sokka and Maria's antics (they were feeding each other food for some reason) and Dante's overall appearance it was no surprise.

"_One glass!"_ he held up his index finger to emphasize. "_You're minors, and I'm not about to let you both get plastered on my watch, ya hear" _

They both nodded eagerly.

"_Okay, go."_ He dismissed them with a wave. The water tribe siblings both grabbed their cups, and downed the contents greedily. Their faces upon tasting the brandy like liquid were priceless, and thanks to his camera captured forever.

"_Not that great, is it?"_ he asked with a barley suppressed grin. The coughs and gags the two made where answer enough. Cap and Maria laughed, as did a number of nearby Northerners.

Later on Pakku and his students performed for the guests, though Katara thoroughly trash talked everything they did loud enough for some of the group to hear. Dante attempted to play mediator, but in the end it turned into a huge spat between the feisty water bender and the older master.

Katara, ever the lady suggested they take this outside. Pakku actually agreed, by which point Dante wondered if he was even in the right story anymore.

'_Where on earth had she picked up this attitude?'_ he thought as they walked outside.

The palace steps turned into makeshift bleachers, and the party guests sat down, eager to see an actual water bending duel. Many carried alcohol, and the growing crowd cheered when the first blows were exchanged. Dante was surrounded by this world's version of Soccer hooligans it seemed.

Katara was angry, and as a result her attacks had a great deal of force behind them. What Pakku lacked in intensity he made up for in experience. Numerous times the older bender had her on the defensive during the match, where Katara was only spared because of her age and agility. Cap's crew shouted attacks and words of encouragement, while Pakku's students did much the same. The water disks were a nice touch, and forced Pakku to take the young girl seriously. She deflected his massed attack and took a page from Dante's book, unleashing a series of sharp, precise pro bending punches and kicks. Pakku was unprepared for the new technique, and was hit by more than a few of the attacks.

He staggered back, recovered, and went all out. His signature move was a water whirlpool in which he was perched, raining down punishment on any that opposed him. Katara fought valiantly, but in the end he did win. A blast of water hit her in the side, and knocked her braid off. The betrothal necklace she wore also went flying, skidding to a stop by Pakku's feet.

"_That necklace…"_ he mumbled absently. Katara was still trying to recover, but heard his statement clearly. _"Give that back. It's was my mothers, and she got it from her mother!"_

Pakku picked it up gingerly, and looked at Katara more closely. _"You're… Kanna's granddaughter?"_

Katara was upright, though her hair was a mess. _"I am. What's it to you?"_

He looked back down at the piece in his hand, and ran his thumb over the familiar grooves. _"I made this for Kanna almost 60 years ago, before she left."_

The revelation surprised Katara, as well as her brother. Dante pretended to be surprised just to fit in.

"_You know my Gran,Gran?"_

Pakku handed Katara the necklace before turning and leaving. Obviously he didn't want to talk about the matter any further. The guests had already returned inside sans the group. Sokka walked up to his sister and wrapped an arm around her._ "Nicely done sis. C'mon, let's get back inside. They're about to serve dessert!"_

Later on they were shown to a spacious 'ice house' if you will. It was still cold, but the furs on the raised sleeping platforms looked inviting. Cap retreated to his private bedroom, while the girls took another. That left Dante and Sokka with the third.

The Water bender liked sleeping on the soft warm furs. For the first time in over a week, he felt comfortably warm when sleeping. Oh yes, he would definitely have to buy a few of these in the coming days.

The next morning Katara and Dante headed to Yogouda, the old woman in charge of the healing hut. She welcomed them both inside, and gestured for them to sit.

"_So, are you here to learn how to heal using water bending?_" They both nodded, causing one of her eyebrows to quip in surprise. _"You as well young man?_ _It is uncommon for males to wish to learn Water healing._"

Dante shrugged.

"_Knowing first aid is an invaluable thing when on the battlefield. Anyone who refuses to learn such a valuable skill is a fool in my opinion."_

Yogouda hummed in agreement before getting started._ "Have either of you ever healed before?" _They both shook their heads. _"Well then, we have to see if you have the gift then. "_ Katara passed with ease, but Dante took a few minutes of coaxing before the water glove he had begun to glow a faint blue. Nothing like Katara's glow stick water, but hey, it was something. Water healing is rare even amongst water benders. He was truly blessed to have the ability.

The lesson ended and Yogouda gave them directions to the market. On the way out a group of Women passed, on their way to the healing class it seemed. One of them smiled at the pair, and Dante couldn't help but smile back out of politeness. On the way to the markets one of Pakku's students found them, and informed them that his teacher wanted a word with both of them. Dante looked down towards the shorter water bender and shrugged, indicating it was her choice. Katara reluctantly followed the student to the same area where they had their earlier duel. The ice was put back the way it was, though there now seemed to be chairs for Pakku's pupils to sit on.

He currently finished mopping the floor with one of them before turning around and addressing the two newcomers.

"_Though incredibly rude, yesterday you have shown a great deal of skill when it came to offensive water bending. I've decided to take you under my wing, should you choose to accept."_ Katara crossed her arms in thought. Before she could reply, Dante interrupted.

"_Master Pakku, would you be willing to teach me as well?"_

Pakku acknowledged Dante for the first time. _"And who might you be?"_ He asked skeptically.

"_I'm the one who taught Katara the water jabs you had the pleasure of experiencing last night. How's the jaw by the way?" _

Pakku frowned at the snarky comment, but let it slide. _"Very well, you may join as well. But only if she accepts."_

Katara looked up, surprised at his last statement.

"_All right, I'll do it."_ And with that she formally bowed in typical water tribe fashion. Dante followed suit, though he didn't really want to. _'Arrogant prick. I'll bet I could take him easy'_

"_All right…Dante", _the old man said with indifference_. "I saw what Katara could do last night. Now it's your turn. Impress me"_

Dante smirked before liquefying the ground beneath Pakku's feet. The older water bending master sank into the ice-cold water about 3 feet before catching himself. A series of quick water jabs were deflected by the aging man before he disappeared below the ice altogether. Dante didn't wait for him to resurface, and launched himself high into the air using a buckling ice slab from the ground. The move was very Earth bender, but when you had several hundreds of feet of solid ice beneath your feet it actually worked quite well. Pakku emerged mere seconds later and blasted his last location with a torrent of icy water. The younger bender regained his balance in midair and created an ice slide which he rode back down. Icicles were launched as he skidded past the stunned students, but Pakku liquefied them and returned them with interest in the form of a water whip. The Canadian ducked, and raised a perfect replica of himself out of the ice. The human shaped mass of water made the older bender pause, but not for long. Dante controlled it by using shadow boxing. Any movement Dante made it would as well. The water warrior stomped it foot, and a series of square ice blocks popped out of the ground before it launched them at its opponent. Pakku had to dodge the last one after pulverizing the first two.

Even Katara didn't know about Dante's recent advancements and watched with a mixture of awe and jealously. The duel raged for, drawing quite the crowd of onlookers. Pakku didn't want to resort to his whirlpool move for the same time in _two_ fights, but from the looks of it he would need to for this opponent. He had no idea that a water bender so powerful existed outside of the North. Dante too was getting ready to unleash his final move. Most of the pieces were already in place. The last thing was to buy enough time for him to assemble them. Ten seconds is what he needed, tops! He raised a thick layer of mist from the ice around him just as the whirlpool was starting to take off. The slide he'd created partially melted to reveal massive wings. The ice was honeycombed for structural rigidity and strength. He slotted the pieces together just as the mist began to dissipate. The whirlpool was now in full swing, and wind carried most of the mist away.

Suddenly out of the wispy soup rose what looked like a dragon! Scratch that, it was a Dragon, and its rider was Mr. Webber in the flesh! The ice beast was held aloft by beating its massive wings. It gained altitude, glided in circles for a few moments before swooping down towards the terrified looking Master Water bender. The sharp ice talons tore through the spinning water and grabbed the panicked older man around the waist. Dante was pushing the limits of his endurance, but it was so worth it in his opinion. He'd trained in secret for the last two weeks in order to do this. The last time he flew was just before they left the abbey. Everyone was so focused on Bato they didn't even know when he left to work on his technique.

Well, it paid off. The ice dragon was far from being perfect, but it didn't look like a stick figure anymore either.

He swung the ice beast back around and landed with a strong gust of wind from the monstrosity's wings.

Pakku was released, and staggered back towards the rest of the equally stunned group. The Canadian stood on the sculptures back, looking down at them. In one last show of awe, the beast huffed and blew steam from its nostrils before the liquid joints froze and it became ridged.

The thoroughly exhausted young man hoped off and walked towards the stunned group with outstretched arms. Black spots exploded in his peripheral vision.

"_Impressed now?"_

Seconds later the world went dark around him…

* * *

All right, allow me to explain the whole Ice Dragon thing before you consider me insane. The idea came to me when creating a (reasonable) timeline of events. Unfortunately for the Gang, there is no fly sky bison for them to get around with. As such, I've been looking for a semi explainable alternative mode of transportation to use for getting around. The earth kingdom continent is huge. I'm talking Pangea huge, if gravity is the same and the Avatar earth is the same size(though the way these kids jump around in the show it must be around half.) Anyway, having something that flies will help them reach their destinations within the time limits set in the canon.


	13. Chapter 12: Calm before the Storm

The final preparations were made before the massive assembled fleet of warships was due to depart. Zhao had pulled men and resources from across the seven seas in order to amass this flotilla of ships, the largest the world had ever seen. But the Admiral was not satisfied with just that. He'd managed to requisition the crew of the crown prince's personal vessel as well. The additional personnel were insignificant, but delivering the news to the brat was worth the connections and favors he had to use to make it happen. The freshly minted Admiral cackled evilly, something he'd practiced in his personal quarters often, and what ultimately spread the rumor of his insanity amongst the servant population.

The last few days had been interesting to say the least. He'd almost been killed by those pesky Kyoshi warriors that had given his elite fire benders a hard time when he was ordered to take their island. They were currently locked up on his flagship awaiting their punishment. And punish them he would. It would take several days to get to the North Pole. Until then he'd have lots of fun with this group of girls. And it was all thanks to this man, he thought as his new favorite subordinate walked into the room.

"_Admiral Zhao!"_ The man stood at attention.

"_Good to see you again Major Fang."_

The scarred soldier gave the Admiral a crooked smile.

Dun, dun, DUUUHHNNN.

oOo

Dante woke up in a dimly lit room. Upon looking around though 'room' was the wrong term to describe his surroundings. It was the healing hut. He groaned, attempting to rise but a frail looking yet very firm hand pushed him back down into the furs supporting his head.

"_You must rest"_, a soft voice commanded.

"_What happened?"_ His voice was rough.

"_You overexerted yourself. I've only seen this happen to one other in my lifetime. You have much dedication for you to push your body like this, but I suggest you refrain from doing so again. It is not good for you."_

Dante stopped resisting her and relaxed into the soft furs beneath him. _"How long was I out?"_

"_They brought you in not an hour after you left. It's now the middle of the night."_

Dante peeked at his watch.

3:14pm. Obviously that didn't match. He briefly wondered why he still wore the timepiece. This world clearly didn't have a firm grasp on the subject yet.

"_I'll keep you here for observations until the morning. Try to get some rest."_

There was no arguing with the tone she used. Clearly Yoguda was not thrilled to be here overnight either. Dante mumbled an apology before sleep overtook him once more.

He was given a clean bill of health later that morning, and proceeded to go straight back to the training grounds. The class (he had no idea how to classify this group) was mimicking the motions of Pakku. He spotted Katara as well, expertly controlling a ball of water in front of her. The ice dragon he'd created yesterday was still there, though a light coating of snow had made it look…'fuzzier'.

The group paused when he approached, but Katara flashed him a big smile.

"Mornin", he stated casually. Pakku didn't respond. _"Sorry for the scare yesterday. You really gave me a run for my money"_

The older man snorted. _"So, did _Yogouda_ give you the all clear? I don't want her to give me grief later on._"

Dante smiled. _"Yup, I'm good to go" _

Practice went well, lasting until the early afternoon. By that time both benders had worked up quite an appetite. Eateries were not very common up here in the North, so they headed up to the palace to see if they could score some free grub there.

Chief Arnook was sitting in his chair, looking bored. Seeing him like that made Dante wonder just how sought after the title of Chief really was. He rose when the two of them strode in however.

"_Lady Katara, Mr. Webber. How good to see you. What brings you here?"_

"_Just stopping by to say hi_", Dante answered. _"How are you doing this fine day?"_

The chief looked pleasantly surprised._ "Well, thank you for asking. I must say, it's rather rare for anyone to visit without some sort of a problem or request."_

Dante shrugged. _"Well, if you want us to ask for something, our stomachs are rather empty." _

The chief roared with laughter. _"Well, I think mine is too. How bout we go visit the kitchen?"_

Katara giggled. She never would have thought the chief to be this much of a jokester.

Dante wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. The kitchen was, in many ways just like a commercial one you would find in any restaurant. The differences were that there was no ovens, griddles, mixers, or cook surfaces. Open fires with kettles dotted the large room, and several contained some truly delicious smelling concoctions. The chef on duty wasn't surprised to see the Chief here, though he did inquire about his two tagalongs.

"_Arnook. Why I am not surprised."_ She put her hands on her hips. _"Supper will be in a few hours, you can wait until then._" Katara and Dante fought to keep a straight face while observing the cooks interaction with her commander in chief. If this happened in the fire nation palace the chef would have been roasted alive for talking like that. Arnook took it well though. _"Oh, don't be like that sweetheart."_

Two sets of eyebrows rose in understanding.

"_Don't you sweetheart me. We ate a mere hour ago, and here you are trying to sneak in here again. La help me I will use the guards to block this kitchen if you keep this up!" _

"_But my love…"_

"_No! And who is this?_" She turned to address the hapless pair of benders, who stood rigid as boards. She observed the two with a critical eye. _"What's your excuse for being here?"_

On que, Dante's stomach rumbled with some ferocity._ "Ummm, Well ma'am , I haven't eaten since the feast the day before yesterday."_

The woman's stern attitude did a complete 180 as she ushered him to sit and ladled him a bowl of the delicious smelling soup. Arnook looked betrayed. Katara got a helping as well, leaving the chief with nothing. It was a little awkward watching him stare while they ate.

Dante spotted a large piece of seal jerky on the table next to him, and pointed at it to get Arnooks attention. The Chief nodded with a sly grin and swiped it of the icy surface when his wife wasn't looking before walking back towards the main hall with a wave.

Dante and Katara laughed.

After finishing their bowels the Woman shoo'd the two back outside through a side entrance.

The Canadian suggested they go to the market, which had been the original plan yesterday. The way the tribe incorporated trade into their community fabric was interesting. Food was shared amongst all residents equally, ensuring that hunger was always kept at bay. It had a very Communist feel to it, and Dante imagined what it would be like if everyone addressed one another with Comrade. The thought made him snicker. The animal byproducts from these hunts were turned into wares such as tools, clothing, and weapons. Water tribe currency was in its infancy, and not widely used. Trade and bartering were instead the primary way of paying. That suited Dante just fine. For the next few days he went over the individual shops in detail, and must have traded dozens of the ubiquitous lighters he carried around. On top of that he also traded the ski goggles he brought along, which seemed to be immensely sought after.

It turned out to be a great day. Despite the cold he found a warmth here that few other places could match. The community here was strong. It was a great thing to experience.

oOo

1256 kilometers due south:

They had finally set sail. Zuko was in uniform, patrolling the flagship with another sailor named Quan. He talked a lot, and it drove the prince in hiding to the very brink of insanity. Zhao had made an attempt on his life after the crew left. His once humble ship and home of three years was a smoldering wreck on the bottom of a harbor. Now his uncle and he were aboard, though only one of them thru invitation. It was a mere minutes until shift change, thank Agni. Afterwards he would find his uncle to let him know he was all right. As Zuko and his 'friend' walked by one particular door, he heard muffled screams. Quan, sensing his imminent question proved useful for once.

"_A few days before you were transferred a group of women warriors tried to off the Admiral" _the talkative guard explained. "_They were caught inside Headquarters and subsequently locked up on the flagship for personal use by Zhao himself."_ Zuko heard the envious tone in the way he talked, and the price concluded that he disliked Quan even more than he initially thought. Torturing and abusing girls? There was no honor in that. The fire bender looked back at the door one more time, memorizing its location within the ship.

Later that night he rose, unable to sleep in part because of the cacophony of snoring but more so because of his conscience. Those screams haunted him, and would continue to do so unless something was done. Donning his uniform, the undercover Prince's legs carried him back to that door, now quiet. Zuko leaned closer and held his breath in an effort to hear what was going on across the threshold. With the actual patrol approaching, he twisted the lock wheel and slipped inside. The room was pitch black, and stank of sweat, blood, and other unmentionables. He raised his palm and a small flame sprang to life, illuminating the outlines of the room. After locating the wall scones and lighting them too, he saw the full picture. It was a torture chamber, the walls filled with truly evil devices that made his skin crawl. The only other occupant sat slumped over in a metal chair, her wrists strapped to its cold arms, rubbed raw from trying to push herself away from the torment and pain. Zuko swallowed. _'Was she dead?'_ He removed the fire navy issue helmet and placed it on the floor with a dull 'thunk'. The girls brown bangs covered her face, but she did not stir despite the clanking of his amour.

He reached out hesitantly, brushing his palm against her tattered tunic that barley hung from her body. That seemed to do it; she flinched, the shackles on her feet jingling as she did. Zuko kept his hand on her back.

"_Are you all right?"_ the concerned teen asked.

She turned her head, trying to get a look at him, but didn't answer. Her eyes were a steely blue, the color flickering in the dim light of the wall scones. It gave her a wild sort of look that made him gulp despite having nothing to fear from her. There were bruises, a lot of them. Sickly yellows for the older , blue and black for newer ones. Many overlapped. How she was still alive was beyond him. She had a swollen cheek and a split lip as well. Zuko undid the leather straps holding her arms, and for a moment he thought she might lunge at him, but the girl continued to just watch. He knelt down and fiddled with the metal locks to no avail though.

"_The keys are on the wall beside the door_", she croaked. It was obvious that she was dehydrated. Zuko stepped away and fetched them, while she stood for what was probably the first time in days. Her balance was off, and she held on to the chair for support while he undid the shackles.

Zuko had no idea of what to do next, just that he couldn't leave her here like this. Thinking back to all the places he'd patrolled over the last week, quite a few would have made good spots. The lifeboats, storage rooms for provisions. But these spaces weren't heated, and with each passing day the weather got colder. With that in mind, he wrapped his arm around her slender frame and helped her walk towards the door. She bit her cracked lip in an effort not to shout out. Every step left her feeling winded from the exertion and pain.

The ship was loaded for war, and on the lower levels were large quantities of supplies and armaments. They limped past rows and rows of fire tanks, tied down to deck anchors to prevent them from sliding in rough seas.

The stables were close, and with the large quantities of hay and straw they made an excellent place to hide. He gingerly deposited her on the ground before shifting around the large bails, creating a faux wall thick enough that it would take several days of feeding to expose the gap that would hold her. That done, he broke one of them open and spread out the contents over the cold metal floor. A kimono rhino blanket finished the makeshift resting area, and he helped her inside.

"_I'll be back soon with food, water and medical supplies. he said in a low tone." _He wasn't too keen on waking the slumbering animals. They huffed loudly when inhaling and exhaling, but would grunt and groan if anyone but the handlers got near them_. "Just stay put, ok."_

She nodded weakly. _"I don't think I'm up for it anyway"_

Zuko nodded and slipped out of the makeshift hiding place, careful to slide a number of bales back into place. He'd have a few hours before shift change, and he needed to tend to this girl's injuries as quickly as possible. The mess hall was silent as a tomb, and taking what he needed was not a problem. The infirmary was another story. He donned his helmet and knocked on the door, opening it a second later to find the on duty physician hunched over a pile of paperwork.

"_Sorry to disturb you at this hour Doctor, but I was wondering if you could help me out."_ He looked up from the mess on his desk, grateful for the brief distraction_. "Sure thing sailor. What seems to be the problem?"_

Insomnia it seemed was a common thing in the navy, especially so close before a campaign. The doctor walked off to fetch the preferred herb to treat sleeplessness, and with his back turned Zuko swiped a few items from another shelf. Bandages, anti-septic salves, and pain relievers found their way into his deep pockets before the good natured man returned, having found what he was looking for.

Zuko accepted the small bag with thanks and excused himself. On the way back he ran into a patrol, but his insomnia story held and he even felt sympathy from the two guards, one of whom sounded like a female.

Suki slipped in and out of consciousness while her mysterious rescuer was absent, and she had problems telling how much time had passed. When she did finally wake fully, her wrists were bandaged, along with a half dozen other places on her body. The realization that he'd needed to remove her cloths made her blush lightly. The pain was also absent, though it did return briefly when she tried to sit up. A water skin hung next to her, and she drank deeply for the first time in many days. The masked sailor though was nowhere to be found. She briefly wondered why he had helped her, but her hunger made itself known before she could ponder it any further. After a long meal that didn't amount to much (she didn't want to lose the contents of her stomach) her mind began to turn, trying to make sense of the opportunity that had presented itself. But her body had other plans however, and she quickly fell asleep once more.

Zuko snuck back into the barracks and had barley hit the cot when the door burst open and a young lieutenant ordering all hands on deck for an emergency sweep of the ship. It seems that the alarm had been raised about the girl. Zuko played the part, and complained like the rest of the crew who was supposed to be on a rest and recovery cycle. The one true downside was that he had to listen to Quan and his conspiracy theories about what had happened. He briefly considered making the man disappear and turning him into a scapegoat, but the risk of his identity being revealed was too great. No doubt they would question him, his assigned patrol partner. And if Zhao himself even saw Zuko it would all be over. No, better to lay low and play the part. They searched their section of the ship diligently, and came up empty of course.

Several hours later they reported back, and were ordered above deck with the rest of the crew. Zhao was livid, and Zuko had to bite his lip in order the keep quiet. The guards for the other girls were increased, but they at least were being treated more humanely.

oOo

It had taken four days of market visits to comb through everything they offered. Four days of sparing in the morning and healing lessons around noon. His offensive and defensive water bending skills were honed to perfection, but his healing abilities left much to be desired. The young man took it with a grain of salt. You couldn't be good at everything, right? Dante had finished trading most of the items he'd brought along for things he'd never be able to get back at home. Authentic Northern Water tribe Parkas, lined pants, boots, and jewelry. He was somewhat of a pack rat, and blamed it squarely on playing too much Fallout.

One of the great things about the overseers was that at the end, should you survive, any all property that you acquired gets sent back with you, even if it isn't on your person. The young Canadian already explained this to Cap after hauling a third large chest full of stuff into the cargo hold.

There had been much grumbling about his ship not being a floating warehouse, though a heavy bag of gold pieces seemed to shut him up nicely.

Maria and Sokka passed him on the way back to the dock with his latest finds and waved. Dante returned the gesture, but gave the two a sly grin as they walked past. Sokka had been 'missing 'from his room for the last few nights.

"_Awww, look at the two lovebirds."_ Dante cooed in a very fake and obvious way. Sokka turned red, but Maria actually smirked! Dante's eyebrows rose at the unexpected revelation. _"Seriously, you two are an item? Wow, did not see that one coming."_ Dante knew the two hung out a lot, but he was only trying to tease Sokka. Judging from his heart rate though, he seemed to have hit the nail on the head.

Before he could say any more, something he had expected to happen for a number of days now slowly descended from the gray sky.

Black snow.

The two shipmates looked at one another with grim faces, before Dante resumed his walk to the boat.

"_Maria, Sokka, meet me at the palace in half an hour. If you find Katara, bring her too."_

Sokka nodded in understanding before looking at the fountains water, which was slowly turning black from the contaminants.

"_C'mon Maria, let's go."_

"_What's going on Sokka?"_

"_The snow, it's black because it's mixed with soot from burning coal."_

He looked at her with a pained expression. _"I've seen it before, right before the fire nation attacked my village."_ He gazed up at the sky. _"And from the looks of the stuff, there's a lot of them."_

oOo

Suki was feeling almost one hundred percent now. It had taken two days of rest and sustenance to get there. The only reason she knew how long it had been was the fact that the stables had portholes. The animals needed natural sunlight lest they get agitated, and nobody wanted a large amount of Kimono rhinos rampaging on a ship, even if it was the flag ship. Weak low angle polar sunlight streamed into the small round holes, hitting the dark gray metal wall on the far side of the large space. This happened once in the morning and again just before sunset from the other side. That much told her where they were going at least.

Her guard had returned twice to redress wounds and bring more food. She was more alert then, and studied him when he rewrapped her wrists.

"_Why are you helping me?"_ she asked again. He'd been quiet so far with the exception of a curt hello when moving inside the makeshift hiding place. Zuko remained quiet. He'd saved the girl, but that didn't mean he liked talking to her. He had next to no experience with that sort of thing. The water peasant didn't count, he told himself.

Suki sighed after a few seconds. _"Can you at least tell me if the other girls are all right?"_

Zuko paused and lifted his still helmeted head. _"They're fine. I saw them yesterday. Zhao isn't abusing them, so don't go thinking about freeing them."_ He finished tying the knot that would hold the bandage in place. _"We will be arriving in a day or so. This place is going to be a hive of activity. Tonight I'll escort you to a safer place for the time being. If all goes well your warriors will be freed soon after."_

She listened to every word. Freed? Just what on earth was going to happen on this ship? She had so many questions, but knew that he wouldn't be answering any of them. Fine. She'd play along for the time being. But if things didn't go as the strange guard had planned she'd have to take matters into her own hands.

Zuko retuned that night and dumped a matching uniform on the hay in front of the girl. Suki was still wearing her tattered prisoner cloths, and was grateful at least for something that would cover the side boob she exposed every time she shifted in his presence. He even turned around so she could dress, the Kyoshi noted. How chivalrous. _"I thought all sailors were raunchy."_ Beneath the helmet she could see a small part of his face turn red, and she smirked at his reaction.

Suited up, he gave her a once over, tucking on a few pieces in order to make them look acceptable. Fire navy officers LOVED to chew sailors out over the dress code. Hell, up until a week ago if he'd seen someone looking like that he'd have done the same. The thought was sobering.

They broke down the small alcove in the hay and snuck out of the stable, unseen and unheard. Zuko led her thru the bowels of the ship, stopping frequently to let roving patrols pass. Despite the apparent security breach Zhao hadn't thought of randomizing patrols. Well, it made his life a lot easier. They finally stopped in front of a seemingly ordinary door. The sharp metallic knock was answered almost immediately by a jolly old man she didn't recognize. He seemed friendly enough, inviting her to sit down and even offering her a cup of tea. The tea was actually really good, and a welcome change from the water skins she'd drank from for the last three days.

But what the old man had to say was more than she could have ever imagined.

oOo

"_All right people, listen up!"_

Chief Arnook, Master Pakka, and most of the veteran fighters from the north were gathered in the great hall where they were first greeted.

Dante raised a remarkable scaled replica of the City out of the ice floor, having memorized the city from several flights with his ice dragon a few days prior.

"_The fire nation will be here within the next few days. When they get here, they will launch ship based artillery at the city before beginning an amphibious ground assault. The purpose of this meeting and the ones in the coming days is to fortify the city and prepare ice bunkers for the civilian population."_

Dante was no military leader, but he knew that a few logical ideas could improve the residents' odds of survival considerably. The canon didn't delve into what the siege was like for the civilian populace, though it can't have been to pretty. Better to remove them from the equation all together.

"_I suggest we carve long tunnels into the side of the ice walls that surround the city. These will lead to large chambers that can hold the city's population while the fighting rages. They can be built rather quickly with the help of water benders." _

The group nodded in agreement, and Arnook gave his approval.

"_Great, next I propose we map the city out into sections that will be monitored from its highest point. Due to the lack of radios, this will be the best way to co-ordinate our forces to meet their superior numbers. We will keep a small number of quick reaction forces in reserve to fortify sections that show signs of weakness."_

Dante looked at the faces in the room before he settled on Sokka. Taking his cue, Sokka cleared his throat.

"_The healers will be split into two groups, positioned here and here in fortified ice structures."_ Dante handed Sokka the power stick as they like to call it. They had been working on this plan since last night. Sokka of course used it way too much, and Dante rolled his eyes it the Water tribe boy. _"These locations allow for all sections to easily transfer their wounded for treatment. We will need volunteers for shuttling these people on stretchers when the time comes." _It felt like bad luck to talk about this sort of thing, but it was better to be proactive than reactive.

"This shows the back half of the city. What of the docks and harbor?" a seasoned looking warrior asked.

"_Excellent question. The reality is that the docks are to open and simply too large to hold. A shorter front will give your men a better chance of holding the line until nightfall. Once the moon is up, we rally and drive the Fire benders back into the sea." _

Several more questions were asked by the man, who Dante assumed was Arnook's right hand man.

The meeting lasted well into the night, but seemed to visibly ease the Chiefs worries. They were to reconvene tomorrow morning. No sense in burning the candle on both ends days before the most important battle in almost a hundred years.

Sokka and Dante were returning from the preliminary meeting, walking thru the deserted streets huddled in their massive coats. The night time temperatures here were numbingly cold.

The sky was overcast offering some protection from the icy cold space above, and apart from the seal oil lamp in the boy's hands the city was pitch black.

"_Hey Dante, do you think we'll be ok? We might be able to hold them off for a while, but sooner or later they will gain hold of the city."_

Dante hummed in acknowledgment. _"I understand your worries. We will bring it up in the morning meeting, but I have a plan."_

Sokka looked at the taller water bender with curiosity. _"I do like plans."_

Dante chuckled. _"I'm going to take Zhao out of the picture. With him gone, the invasion will falter. His second in command is sympathetic to our mission to bring balance to the world."_

Sokka nodded. _"How will you take care of Zhao?"_

"_Good old fashioned fist fight?"_ the Canadian joked. Sokka looked at him with a face that said; 'You must be joking'

Dante shrugged. _"What, should I have some sort of secret technique to beat him? I kinda already let that cat out of the bag"_

Sokka looked thoroughly confused by now. _"Never mind"_

"_Thought so"_, the water bender said back.

The next morning they were back at it, polishing, refining, and perfecting every aspect of their overall strategy. Many useful ideas were presented by the fighting men of the tribe, and with a combined experience measured in centuries, not years it was a treasure trove of information. Work crews had already been dispatched to begin work on the shelters. The cities most esteemed builders and carvers had been tasked to oversee the project on a very tight timeline.

After the meeting Dante visited one of the sites, where good progress was being made. An even line of water benders could be seen standing in a long line leading into the new structure, directing a stream of water not unlike the firemen of old passing along buckets in a line. It was the first time that Dante saw water bending in such a way. Essentially a construction crew of water benders could build an entire city in the fraction of the time it would if it was concrete and glass. The materials were abundant, all you needed was some skill and a sense of how much load a certain amount of ice could withstand. It was darn impressive!

Snow fell once again in the early afternoon, just after Dante and Sokka had completed a mock simulation of the numerical communication system. "Say the front was stretched thin in sector 2 for example, that sector would flag the command center on top of the palace roof, who in turn order reinforcements to that area" he explained to the assembled crew currently perched atop the palace roof.

All sectors responded adequately, and response times were drilled and re-drilled until it became second nature. It was interesting to see water benders on snow clearing duty, though it made sense. If it kept snowing, the streets would soon be unpassable. The black snow was also very unsightly, ruining the pure and serine feeling the city emanated.

The dynamic duo returned to their temporary lodgings to find Katara braiding Marias hair. The two had grown closer in the last week, and Maria acted like an older sister to the younger water tribe girl.

"_Sup peeps?"_ he asked while brushing the heavy fur door separator to the side.

"_Oh, hey there boys. How'd it go?"_ The question came from the smexy merc. Katara was too focused to be bothered with small talk right now. The girl could fight like a Hellcat, but hair styling was just not one of her Fortes.

Sokka sat down on one of the fur covered platforms and sighed. _"Pretty good actually. Thanks to Dante we have a good chance of saving the city."_ Sokka sat down as well, rummaging through his stash of seal jerky. _"Snack Time"_, he said excitedly with his tongue out.

Dante smirked, head held up by his elbow. It was nice to relax a little. No bending practice, no scrubbing Cap's ship. He enjoyed listening to the light conversation between his three shipmates, and occasionally added a comment as well. It was the calm before the storm. They all knew, but there was no sense in fretting about it now.

* * *

I apologize if this chapter felt like it ended too abruptly. I had to split it into two, and this was the most acceptable place to do so. No one likes 12k words in a single go after all. On another note, I finally managed to connect the story further down the road in a reasonable way. It took for ever to make it work, but I'm reasonably happy with the result. Besides, it isn't for another 5 chapters or so, giving me time to tweak it a little ;)

Finally I'd like to thank Glasses freak for the steady reviews in the last few submissions. I'm happy people enjoy the story.


	14. Chapter 13: Fight for the Nrtn Wtr Trb 1

On the morning of their seventh day in the great Northern Water Tribe city, Dante and the rest of the gang woke up to an unholy cacophony of noise. It was the cities version of air raid sirens, produced by what sounded like an orchestra of poorly tuned tsungi horns. Cursing, he fell off his sleeping platform trying to get his thick pants on. Sokka was even less coordinated, hopping around on one foot while wrestling to get the boot on. In the common area Katara and Maria were already dressed, though their bed hair looked particularly impressive this not so fine morning. Pointing it out it seemed was the wrong thing to do as a rouge piece of footwear almost smoked him in the face.

"_Hey, there's my other boot!"_, Sokka yelled from behind the curtain. All three shook their heads and rolled their eyes. It was wayyy too early for this.

The group scarfed down a quick and plain breakfast before they headed out. Dante stopped them at the door, making sure to look at each of them one last time.

"_All right peeps, this is it! You all know your places. Keep your cool, and fight smart. No dumb heroics unless it's by me. We'll meet up at the palace after it's all said and done. Good luck to you all."_

The group scattered like leafs in the wind. The residents of the city were beginning to come out of their homes, belongings and provisions in hand. At first Navigating the streets was easy, but it soon became difficult as more and more people made their way to the newly erected shelters. Dante made his way to the massive gates. Along the way he met up with Master Pakku, who was having an equally difficult time getting to his muster point. The strongest benders were tasked to selectively target and destroy the incoming burning pitch balls the fire navy was about to unleash. Their main task for today was to hold the gates intact and to intercept as many of the projectiles as possible. The sight that greeted them at the top of the wall was concerning. Dozens of warships were already in place, belching black smoke into the crisp clean air, and more were getting into position behind them. One however stood out. Their flagship, a behemoth of a vessel, soared up like a skyscraper amongst all the rest.

If memory served him right, the opening shot was going to hit the water tribe crest at the front of the wall. A moral blow that added insult to injury.

"_Well, not if I can help it."_ Dante positioned himself smack dab in the middle of the wall, and began to stretch. Pakku glanced at the strange young man before he had to ask.

"_What are you doing?"_

Dante grunted through a stretch before replying; _"Rule number eighteen…limber up."_

Elsewhere…

Sokka and Maria were helping with the evacuation of the city's residents. There was no telling when the barrage was going to begin, but they needed to get the streets cleared before the first fire ball sailed over their heads.

Katara met with Princess Yue near the spirit oasis. Dante had warned the tribe of Zhao's half baked plan to kill the moon spirit. In addition to Katara, there was a squad of Water tribe regulars guarding the entrance to the oasis. It was probably too early to expect any real action, but defending the spirits physical bodies was the number one priority and it called for one of the best Water benders the tribe had. All the pieces were in place.

Dante was bored. In the canon the first ship had attacked as soon as it came within striking range. He knew because he'd just finished re-watching the entire first season on his cell. Now, after almost three hours there still hadn't been an opening salvo. He was currently laying on the edge of the wall, head propped up and scratching doodles into the ice with his knife. The other soldiers on guard duty gave him worried looks, all of which he ignored. If they wanted to stand at ridged attention all day that was fine and dandy, but not him. Eff that. The last of the ships had taken their position in the formation half an hour ago, and yet here he was, still waiting. He glanced at his watch again. This sucked. He could have slept in. _"What a bunch of sadists. At least attack when you get here" _he muttered to no one in particular.

There was a flash of light, and the bored Canadian looked out to the fleet to see a fireball race right towards him. _"About time"_, he grunted as he got up, pausing to re-sheath the combat knife. Cracking his fingers, he pulled a massive pillar of saltwater from the icy waters and absorbed the ball of burning tar and bitumen before letting it fall back into the ocean. Afterwards all hell broke loose. There were more balls of burning tar in the air than stars in the soon approaching night sky.

Dante whistled, slightly impressed. Most of the trebuchet launched bombs sailed over his head in into the city, while some landed short and hit the water ahead. The select few that would have otherwise hit the wall were frozen in ice or absorbed in water. The bombardment held up for several hours, and left the city looking more like a pile of slush than anything resembling buildings. As the sun set however, the massed fire ceased. Unit status updates where compiled and only minor inquires reported. It was surprising considering the saturation and intensity of the fire.

oOo

Zuko had infiltrated the city via naturally occurring ice caves used by Seal Turtles. The effort had almost cost him his life, but what did his Uncle always say? 'Nothing ventured, nothing gained.' It was one of those proverbs that actually made sense. He snuck around the dark streets aimlessly, carefully bypassing the few guards that were out patrolling them. _'If I were the avatar, where would I be?'_ the thought had repeated itself in his head like a broken record, though tonight he was closer than ever to doing something about it. Zuko had read about the spirit oasis before, in a textbook on the history of the four nations. It was a spiritual place, so the Avatar _should_ be there. It was better than wasting time searching the streets. He located the entrance to the oasis but heavy security made him pause. 'This had to be it. Why else would there be this many guards?'

He tossed a chunk of ice off to the left and waited for the 'thunk' to draw their attention before slipping in thru the round wooden door. He was surprised at the mild temperatures within, and the lush green grass. But despite the heavy guard his prize was nowhere to be found. Before he could make his way back out a water whip grabbed him by the abdomen and pulled him away from the ice wall he was hiding behind.

"_What are you doing here!" _her voice was ice-cold.

Zuko frowned. _"You and I both know why I'm here. Where is he?"_

"_Like I'd tell you!" she spat back._

Zuko turned to leave, but was forced to defend himself when Katara launched a wave of water at him. A flurry of water and fire crisscrossed over the serene garden. All he wanted was the Avatar. Why was she fighting him if he wanted to leave? With her element in abundance, Katara seemed to have the upper hand and froze the angry price in a rather large sphere of ice.

"_You found a master, didn't you?" _

oOo

Wait, so if Water benders drew their power from the moon, why is their bending stronger when it's full? Does the amount of illumination dictate how powerful the effect is? Whether new, waning, full, or whatever, it's always the same distance from earth, right? Unless this worlds celestial body has an extreme elliptical orbit. Is that it? Dante doubted even the fire nation was advanced enough to have the equipment needed to measure changes in distance. Hell, even if they did, he was no scientist. How would he work the delicate instruments? Engineering and code compliance was stuff he knew, not scientific method. That had flown out the window after grade ten science. And then there was the whole taking the moon out of the equation thing. You can't just make a huge chunk of space rock '_disappear_'. It was IMPOSSIBLE! Having a green Namekian blow up said moon made more sense. Gahh, this place made his head hurt.

Whatever. Full moon=good. Priorities Dante!

When the source of his growing migraine finally crested Dante rose from his perch atop of the damaged main wall. He tossed back a can of NOS and jumped into the frigid water outside of the city. The young man fashioned himself a surfboard and manipulated the currents to propel himself towards the anchored fleet with rapid speed. It was time tear some shit up!

The full moon made normal every day Water bending effortless. Water and ice tore wide gashes into the ship hulls, impaled other, and even forced the seas to part enough to swallow one whole. In that particular case water surrounded the vessel, and collapsed over top of it. After entering the ships stack, it rushed into the hot boilers and instantly expanded into steam. Seconds after being submerged, the hull ballooned outward for a split second before the entire ship was torn apart by the massive steam explosion. His target was the flag ship, looming ominously in the distance. He was going to remove Zhao from the equation. Iroh was second in command, and would call a full retreat once he was eliminated.

Manipulating such massive quantities of water was straining him at an alarming rate despite the boost, and it didn't help that he'd been up all day either. Fatigue was taking its toll, and he would need to finish this mission quickly. Close to the target he ceased his destructive actions and noiselessly slipped below the waves. With luck he would be able to infiltrate the flag ship while rescue operations were in full swing. Keeping a pocket of warm water around his body and an air bubble around his head, Dante closed the distance to the huge steel vessel within minutes. He broke the surface about halfway down the hull of the ship, and made a set of ice stairs. Once on deck he donned a Guy Fawkes mask and made his way to the bridge. The mask seemed fitting, though he'd only seen the movie once, a long time ago.

As expected, the ship was a hive of activity. Several small craft had been dispatched from the massive cruiser to patrol the water immediately around it and to pull survivors out of its icy embrace. Dante was hesitant to actually enter the ship, fearful of either getting lost or being overwhelmed by the crew in the confined space. He had only his sidearm and about sixty rounds of ammunition to go with it. Water availability was also going to be a problem if he ventured inside. Better to stay outside.

He snuck around on the main deck, sticking to the shadows and looking for any way to climb further to where the bridge was located. With luck the admiral would be up there, awoken by the sound of his ships exploding.

After waiting for a few minutes to get an idea of guard movements around where he wanted to climb the young man sprang into action. Satisfied that he wasn't going to be seen, Dante quickly ascended and slipped into the shadows. So far so good. There were also guards patrolling the catwalks of the ship, and unfortunately there was no way for him to circumvent them. A silent prayer for what he was about to do soothed his conscience, at least enough to be certain he wasn't going to hesitate when it mattered the most. Oiled metal glistened in the moonlight, its weight slightly unfamiliar with the silencer threaded to the end of the barrel. The assassin's aim was true regardless, and made short work of the first sentry with a well-placed head shot, no louder than clapping your hands.

The attack on the fleet had awoken many people, including Major Fang. Fang was currently on the deck of the flagship, looking at the destruction caused by what could only be those Water tribe barbarians. Soon enough they'd be rid of them, the Officer thought with more than a bit of anticipation. Before his mind could wander to the how's and why's of tonight's attack a muffled pop caused him to turn, just in time to see a masked figure walk over the crumpling form of a guard. Fang leapt into action, and bolted towards the very ladder Dante had used not five minutes prior.

He was almost there. Voices could be heard just on the other side of the steel bulkhead he was crouched behind. The door was found quickly, but opening it would reveal him. Dante was unsure how thick the glass was, but he couldn't take a chance and find out. He had to open that door, identify his target, and pop a cap in the bastard before getting burnt to a crisp. He removed the silencer and swapped the magazine, opting to go with the supersonic 115 grain Winchester round to do this next bit of work. No need for stealth now, he thought with a wicked smirk.

He was about to open the door when movement to his side caught him off guard. Moments later a searing pain ripped into his side. It took every ounce of strength not to scream out loud as the fireball burned thru his cloths and charred his skin and flesh. The Water bender spun out of the way of the next fireball, which missed him by mere centimeters. But he had no time recover as his enemy charged at him. Dante attempted to get his pistol on target but was tackled before he could bring it to bear. The force of the blow coupled with the pain of the burn made his vision explode with stars. He grunted in pain and gritted his teeth as the two men scuffled on the observation decks metal floor. The pistol clattered to the ground and was promptly kicked away by the unknown man.

The unexpected fire bending had also been seen from the bridge; however because of their current placement the crew was unable to open the door more than a crack while the two combatants struggled against it on the other side. Dante finally got his bearings and proceeded to head butt his assailant, who was brutally pounding him with his fists from above. The move didn't help Dante's condition, but it dazed Fang long enough for the Canuck to kick him off and across the deck. Only then did Dante recognize his scarred visage.

"_You"_, he hissed with as much spite as he could put in his response. "_You mother f**ker, I was so close to popping your boss."_

Fang growled at him before once again going on the offensive.

Dante was more than ready for him this time despite the nasty burn he now sported. The major attacked, but he leaned into it too much, too confident in his ability to land a punch. He didn't, because Dante sidestepped the poorly executed melee attack and proceeded to plant his knee right into the man's solar plexus. The injured Water bender was rewarded with a pained grunt and a feeble gasp for air. Dante socked him one more time, but that was as far as he got because the crew was now on the deck.

In a split second he recapped the last minute or so perfectly. He was up Shit creek without a paddle; the pistol was god knows where, he was injured, had no access to water and was outnumbered ten to one. And on that note, he Bee-lined it to the far edge of the narrow deck and leapt overboard. Fireballs chased him over the railing and some more on his way down towards the icy black water. The fall felt sickening, and threatened to violently empty his stomach at the most inconvenient of places. He beckoned the water to come up and cushion his long fall, and felt an immediate sense of security when he was embraced by it. It also felt amazing on his side, which was now throbbing like no one's business. Yes, the salt stung, but the numbing cold overpowered that feeling. The night had been a failure, but he was grateful to have made it off that ship alive. Tomorrow would bring a day filled with death because of his miscalculation. Thousands of lives would be lost because of that piece of shit Fang. God how he wanted to kill that guy. He was like a cockroach! That night when the farmhouse burnt down flashed thru his head. He saw the bastard go down. It had been a headshot! Damn it all. His control slipped and the ocean around him was no longer icy cold but bathwater temperature. The burn made itself known once more, forcing the wounded youth to do some first aid water healing before finally propelling himself back to the city. He was in a foul mood. The journey back to the city took a good twenty minutes, far longer than it should have. He was exhausted, but managed to limp back to the healing area between sectors three and four. Yogouda was still there, overseeing last minute preparations to the supplies they'd now surly need tomorrow.

She noticed him walk in holding his side, and was on him like a moth to the light. _"I was told you might be coming here tonight. I was hoping you wouldn't"_

Dante snorted. _"Ya, that makes two of us."_ He immediately felt bad for the snarky tone, but inhaled sharply as she pulled his hand away. He shot her a silent glare but held his tongue. She was after all going to heal him.

She prodded the shoddy healing job and tsk'd, pulling a good quantity of water to her shriveled old hand before placing it over his ribcage.

The young man sighed with relief as the remaining pain faded. A few minutes passed while she worked on him.

"_I'm afraid you'll be treating a lot of these types of wounds tomorrow."_ Dante didn't know why he said that, but it was true. _"I'm sorry I couldn't stop this. I was so close." _He whispered before lowering his head in shame.

Yogouda looked sad. She knew the ramifications of his failure. _"You did your best, and for that I thank you." _

"_Yeah"_, Dante whispered solemnly. He knew she meant it, but the thanks still sounded hollow to him regardless.

He thanked the old woman for patching him up, and headed to the palace. Word of his failure was spreading throughout the city, but was damned if he didn't tell the chief the news himself.

Sokka, Maria, Cap, Princess Yue, Pakku, Chief Arnook.

They were all waiting there. Dante felt guilt well up inside him. He'd never let a whole people down. Dante walked up in front of the chief, and bowed with respect.

"_It didn't work out. The invasion is still on for tomorrow."_

* * *

So it's begun. The siege of the north in the Canon was a pretty big deal. I mean, the Avatar/Water spirit royally screwed the fire navy. Who knows how many drowned. Not everyone knows the breath of fire like Zuko, and with that heavy bulky armour I doubt anybody could swim anyway. Dante though will have to see this one thru differently, seeing as he can't turn himself into a human LED and smite everyone with the flick of his wrist. The discrete assassination attempt was similar to the one attempted by that guy who fell over the main deck. It was a good idea, but a clown could have done a better job at taking down the Admiral.


	15. Chapter 14: Fight for the Nrtn Wtr Trb 2

Major Fang was standing on the flagships observation deck, gazing at the vast ice fortress that lay ahead. He was now sporting a nice shiner courtesy of that insolent Water bender. The sun was about to rise, signaling the start of the ground offensive against the besieged city. It had been months since his humiliating defeat on the mainland at the hands of the Outlander, and hours since their last encounter right here on this very deck. The mere thought of it was enough to fan his inner fire and caused the very air to shimmer around the Fire Bender. He was going to make that runt pay for what he did to his face. Fang clenched his fists, causing the leather gloves to stretch with an audible noise. All that pent up rage was close to being released. He'd trained every day in order to build up his stamina and hone his fighting skills. Nothing could stop him. Nothing!

He inhaled deeply, and shifted his legs only to kick something by his feet. He looked down to see the outlander's weapon. Fang couldn't believe his luck. He picked up the strange weapon, turning it this way and that before tucking it behind the armors bulky breastplate when he heard people approach.

Admiral Zhao followed by General Iroh stepped outside just to see Fang turn and leave for the lower deck, presumably in preparation for the upcoming battle. He nodded in respect at the Admiral, but glared at man known as the Dragon of the West. Iroh's expression towards the scarred Major was hard and unforgiving. Fang had once served under his command, but the two parted on bad terms. It was a story for another time.

"_It's daybreak at last. Let's write history."_ Iroh rolled his eyes at Zhao's comment. Seriously, how could anyone be this cheesy?

Orders were relayed using the tried and tested method of colored flags.

Half a dozen ships broke from the main fleet and approached the compromised wall for an apparent breaching maneuver. Despite the previous day's best efforts some of the projectiles had still managed to damage the outer wall, and no amount of repairs in the span of a few hours could have repaired it. Now these ships were heading straight for these weak points. Their sharpened bow crashed through the cracked ice, and massive metal ramps fell down to release hundreds of fire nation troops. Unbeknownst to the Fire Navy, perpendicular walls had been erected behind these very location to funnel the spearheading troops into choke points and kill zones. If the defending forces had a few machine guns, a dozen men could have stopped this entire invasion cold in its tracks. Instead archers rained down a steady stream of arrows at the now charging troops, while water benders added volleys of icicles to the barrage. The fire nation was going to pay for every inch with blood.

oOo

Katara had managed to pin Zuko against the oasis wall using a considerable amount of ice, knocking him out cold. She was tired, the battle having worn her out considerably. After days of intense training with Master Pakku, the last few hours had pushed her body to the raggedy edge. Arms left like lead, and she had random muscle spasms which couldn't possibly be good. She staggered a little, but remained upright while making her way to the koi fish. The sun was cresting, bathing the Small Island and its sole occupant in warm orange light. Spirits she was tired.

Zuko to felt the sun's rays tickle his face as well. They empowered him, gave him strength. The small ember inside him grew, until it glowed white hot and burst into flame. Golden eyes opened with a newfound fire within, focusing on the distant figure of the water tribe girl. With a hot blast of searing flame the teen broke free of his restraints and once again went of the offensive. The fireballs he now launched at the water bender was nothing like the ones before their brief 'intermission'. He noted her attempt to raise a water shield but the force of the blast quickly overpowered her. Zuko saw her hit the ornamental pillar of the island with an audible thud before slouching down, unconscious.

"_You rise with the moon, but I rise with the sun." _Why he uttered that cheesy line was beyond him, but it felt right to say so regardless.

He paused, expecting his opponent to rise and launch another torrent of water against him. When she didn't he became a little worried. Had he overdone it? The crown prince briskly walked over the bridge and leaned down to check up on the defenseless water bender. The force of the blow had undone her hair tie, spilling her wavy brown hair and covering a portion of her face. Zuko swallowed nervously, and tucked a stray lock behind her ear with his calloused finger.

'She looks so innocent'

Her breathing was calm and he couldn't find any obvious injuries._ 'Just knocked out I guess.'_

With a sigh he rose, massaging his shoulder in an attempt to work out some of the kinks in his neck before glancing back down at her.

Why had she tried to stop him from leaving? There had been no need for this pointless fight.

Zuko sighed again before gently placing the girl on the soft grass, then propped up her head with his coat before tying her hands and feet with the very rope he'd hoped to catch the Avatar with. The Prince had no idea where said Avatar was, but he was bound to show up here sooner or later. For now he would wait.

oOo

Back on zee Flagship:

"_The water tribe can try to resist the inevitable, but their city will fall today."_ Iroh was ready to shoot a fireball to this guy's head, if only to shut him up.

Zhao had a point though. After some of the most intense fighting Dante had witnessed to date, they had been forced back by the fire nation troops, but a murderous cost to the first wave of invaders. Any reinforcements from the breached wall would be walking on snow stained red with the blood of their comrades. Now piles of corpses stacked like firewood would greet any additional reinforcements at the city's entrance. It was a nasty blow to morale despite their advances. The battle was now focused around the docks. The wide open nature of the area gave the advantage to the fire nation with their superior numbers and superior range. On top of that they now had to deal with mechanized troops like Fire shooting tanks and grappling hook equipped vehicles that were bringing bring down ice walls. It was a battle these people were ill equipped to fight against. Heck, even his rifle couldn't penetrate several inches of steel. Dante had his way of making them pay for every inch however. After a while it came down to how many calories of energy his body took to neutralize a target. Liquefying the ice underneath a tank was the best way to take it out of action by far. All you had to do was re-solidify the water after. Dozens of the tracked machines met this fate as the water benders fought a furious battle to stall the advancing elements of what was now a sizable foothold.

Deep horns blew, signaling the order for a tactical retreat to the next line of defense. A small group of skilled water benders covered their retreat, among them the Outlander. Fire rained down on him in in ever increasing quantities as the minutes ticked by, forcing him to turtle inside a thick spinning layer of water. The fire blasts fizzled out upon impact, and spears were ripped from soldier's hands when they tried to skewer him. They even tried shooting a tank mounted grappling hook at him. Dante focused on the vehicle and layered it in over three meters of ice. The water tribe forces were now positioned a good half kilometer behind him, and he would need to disengage soon lest he be surrounded. The Canadian solidified dozens of pointed icicles and fired them through his liquid cover at targets on his left and right flanks.

The fire navy troops scattered, and Dante broke off the engagement by ducking behind a sturdy ice building. To buy him more time he threw up a series of ice walls.

The water benders were busy clobbering the fire nation amour with great blasts of water in the narrow streets. Tanks were forced to navigate them single file, and once knocked out blocked the rest of the column from advancing. Often these disabled vehicles would be pushed over the edge and into the canal. Hand to hand combat became the fighting style of choice, mixed in with some bending here and there. Casualties on both sides continued to mount, with the invaders able to weather the battle of attrition this event had degenerated into.

By the time the sun was at its zenith roughly two thirds of the city was under fire nation control. Its defenders had traded space for time all day, waiting for night to fall, still several hours away. Dante had begun to mimic earth bending moves using the solid ice beneath his feet. Blocks of the stuff would jump out of the flat surface like oversized ice cubes, and with a solid palm push move they would fly at their targets with impressive speed. They obviously had less mass than a boulder would, but did more than enough damage despite the lack weight. There was also the added benefit fire and forget. Water benders normally had to retain control of their element until it made contact, otherwise the enemy would just get wet. Now he just hurled one after the other, only bothering to track one of them if they inflicted multiple casualties. He was keeping score after all.

A high pitched horn sounded, signaling the first sector to show real signs of failing. Dante craned his neck, and identified the large wooden plaque as the number 8. '_Eight it is'_, he thought before heading to the area.

oOo

Katara woke up to see a fierce blizzard raging far above the oasis, a confusing sight as the rest of her senses were processing that the air was warm around her, and the air smelt like the spring blossoms she'd experienced a few weeks back. Her head hurt. The last thing she remembered was a flash of yellow flame bearing down on her, then darkness.

The dazed Water bender attempted to sit up, only to notice that her arms and legs were bound. She froze. Not even an arm's length away sat their arch enemy, Prince Zuko. The fire nation teen was currently meditating. Katara continued to squirm, trying to break free. Somewhere along the way she let out a squeak, because at once the Princes eyes flew open, alerted by the smallest of sounds.

Gold orbs met her Blue ones. Neither broke eye contact for what seemed like an eternity.

"_Do you have some sort of bondage fetish?" _Katara finally muttered while continuing to wiggle this way and that in an effort to loosen the ropes.

"_This is the second time you've tied me up."_

Zuko opened his mouth to reply, but all he could throw back at her as a comeback was a sputtered _"No!"_

She snorted in amusement. _"Great, so now what. You got me. Are you happy?"_

Zuko looked at her with a confused look. "_You're the one who stopped me from leaving. You being tied up here is entirely on you, not me. I'm only interested in capturing the avatar, not some water peasant."_

Katara rolled her eyes. _"You know, the whole peasant thing is wearing a little thin if you ask me."_

Zuko turned away rolling his eyes as he did so. _'It's like she woke up just itching to nag on him.'_

"_What do you hope to accomplish anyway?"_ She continued. _"Why are you after the Avatar?"_

"_You wouldn't understand!"_ he replied angrily.

"_Try me Zuko!" _she shot back with just as much attitude. 'Honestly, didn't she know how prisoners should act?'

He turned his head to look at her. From what he saw she seemed to show genuine interest in his explanation, should he grace her with one.

Zuko frowned, thinking back to those darker times.

"_Three years ago, I was banished from the fire nation for speaking out of term against my father. He punished me, and ordered me to find and capture the Avatar if I ever wanted to regain my honor at his side." _

It was the short and sweet version of a much bigger story. One he didn't care to tell anytime soon.

"_He banished you?"_ she whispered in disbelief. _"What kind of father would do that to his own son?"_

Zuko rose. _"Like I said, you wouldn't understand."_ And with that he walked away. Katara was left to mull over the morsel of information he had just fed her.

oOo

Dante continued to go from hotspot to hotspot under the guidance of the observation team perched atop the palace roof. Sector 5 and 6 popped up almost simultaneously, indicating a larger push along that portion of the front. He effortlessly glided through the damaged city's deserted streets on ice ramps and the occasional skates frozen to the soles of his boots, mindful of the faint orange glow to his left. The water bender emerged from a narrow alleyway with tremendous speed, catching the advancing column of fire nation troops off guard. Immediately he liquefied a very fine layer of ice about a meter beneath the street surface and flipped the slab along with no less than four tanks into the side of a solid ice wall. The vehicles were crushed beyond recognition. Oil, blood, and other lubricants seeped from their mangled hulls and stained the ice a reddish black. A number of blue clad bodies with arrows clearly embedded in them raised warning flags however. Without further thought, he threw up a thick but translucent ice shield, and just in time. Several arrows embedded themselves in the ice with dull thuds.

It seems the ever resourceful admiral had committed his prized Yuyan to the battle. With practiced speed, Dante unslung his rifle and opened up a number of soda-can sized hole thru the ice. Three of the elite archers fell in quick succession to the bark of his rifle, and another two were dispatched with shots though cover as they tried to put something solid between them and his long reach. The last retreated behind a thick ice pillar. Dante emptied the rest of his magazine into the massive hunk of ice, shattering it. A portion of the roof collapsed, taking the remaining combatant with it and crushing him three stories below. Satisfied that the immediate threat was dealt with, he quickly checked the fallen water benders for signs of life. Two were still alive, and the gun toting warrior changed roles into a clumsy but effective field medic without missing a beat. His skills were not advanced enough to completely heal the injuries, but stopping the bleeding and stabilizing was well within his capacity. After pulling out the barbed arrows with a wince he clotted the toonie sized wounds. All the while the remaining Water tribe forces quickly re-established their original perimeter and covered him while he worked.

A few gave him thanks and pats on the shoulder as they passed, but he had no time or concentration to spare and reply.

Throughout the evening sectors popped up, some multiple times. One he'd bailed out no less than seven times! That portion of the city was in shambles. Not a single structure was left unscathed for at least a hundred meters. Bodies littered the surface, the ice beneath them stained crimson. Barley any of the original defenders here still remained, an observation that saddened him. These people never asked to be in this war. They are the victims here, forced to pay the ultimate price, and for what? One man's lust for power! Well, it was more than one man. The entire fire nation leadership was nothing more than a bunch of warmongering savages. Another horn blew, and another number signaled more trouble. With a sigh, he moved on.

oOo

Zuko could faintly hear the sounds of battle even from their protected enclave deep within the ice. He had waited all day long for the strange talking Avatar to make an appearance. His water bending prisoner had said little after their first chat, but that suited him fine. He needed more time to think. Technically he was behind enemy lines, on top of the fact that Zhao and his forces were no friendlier than the people they were fighting. He was like a hostile third party. The enemy of my enemy didn't apply here. It seemed Zuko had backed himself into a corner. His uncle had always been the guiding hand when he was at his wits end, but even he couldn't help him now.

This always happened. He would charge in head first without much thought, and end up paying the price. He gazed at the fish swimming in perfect circles around each other. It was almost hypnotic, the way they moved.

oOo

Dante was slowly wearing out. He'd burnt through most of his allotted ammunition for this part of the journey already. The rest he left at the oasis just so he wouldn't end up using it all. It wasn't the point anyway. Once it was dark, the water benders would regain the city and drive the fire navy back into the sea. The wildcard in all this was of course the Admiral. No doubt he was already on his way to the Oasis to kill the moon spirit. Dante wouldn't let that happen. As time passed he moved closer to the entrance to the holy site, waiting for the wretched bastard to show up.

For once Dante needn't wait long. Several mounted fire nation soldiers approached. It seemed they had easily broken through the front lines and were making good time through the rear areas of the battlefield. Dante revealed himself and walked to the middle of the road. The sun was low in the horizon, and silhouetted the riders. It looked almost like a bad spaghetti western, but the mood was deadly serious. A single figure un-mounted and Dante would have bet his left nut he knew who that person was.

"_You caused me a ton of grief over the last couple of months Major Fang!" _

He pointed over towards the fiery red disk that hovered a hands width over the horizon. _"You'd better get a good look at the sun, because it's going to be the last time you'll ever see it!"_

Laughter roared from the man. "_That's cute, coming from a greenhorn like you. I've been fighting longer than you've even been alive!"_

"_Oh yeah? _Dante snapped back with just as much venom._ "Then why is it that last night the bridge crew had to bail your sorry ass out of the fire? For someone who's fought for over twenty-five years, you hit like a girl!" _There was mockery in his reply, and the fact that the Admiral chuckled at their pissing contest only infuriated the Major further.

Fire engulfed Fang's fists, indicating that he was done talking. The rest of fire nation group, including Zhao, broke to the left. Dante cursed, hoping he could deal with this bastard before they chewed through the men stationed at the entrance to the Oasis.

Fang made the first move, launching a series fire punches and kicks. Dante sidestepped the first, and brushed aside the rest with relative ease using a water stream. The one thing Fang had on him was endurance, thanks to a full day of fighting without reprieve.

'Better to wear him down a little before going on the offensive', the water bender thought.

Dante was no fool though. Yes, he needed to win this quickly, but rushing would only get him killed. He needed to keep a cool head if he was to win. Fang mocked him for his passive attitude, trying to get a rise out of the younger man. The fire whip was harder to avoid, and the Canadian pulled water from his surroundings to parry the attack with his own water whip. With every second his chances of stopping Zhao grew slimmer, so he decided to up the intensity of his attacks. It would drain precious energy that he didn't have to spare. He hurled a barrage of icicles at the fire bender, who opted to block using a continuous stream of fire.

'Wasteful moves', Dante thought while sending a series of ice blocks down his way. He would literally burn himself out if he kept at it long enough. The problem was time. Yeah he could play around with this guy for half an hour, but by the moon would be gone, and he'd be just another regular Joe instead of a bender.

Fang rolled out of the way, but what happened next surprised even Dante. After finishing the roll, the fire bender pointed a pistol, HIS PISTOL at the water bender. Dante pulled a thick layer of ice up around three feet and hit the deck behind it even as the first round whizzed a mere centimeters from his head.

" _MotherF**ker!"_

Unslinging his own rifle, the young man pushed off self-made imperfection in the ice floor, sliding across the slick ground and clearing the ice barrier, rifle pointed down range. Fang had anticipated the fact that he would try to return fire and ducked around a corner just in time.

Dante scrambled to his feet, hot in pursuit. _'This one was going to take the cherry on the cake'_, he thought. _'Playing a game of cat and mouse with a grudge bearing pistol armed fire nation lunatic in a city made of ice! This was just f**king perfect!'_

oOo

Katara managed to prop herself up on the red wooden pole she had the pleasure of meeting earlier this morning while Zuko was investigating the sounds of fighting at the oasis entrance. He peeked around the corner to see Zhao finish of the last of a half dozen or so water tribe warriors with a fire blast to the back. He scowled and headed back inside. Katara gave him a quizzical look when he approached her.

"_Zhao is coming, and he's got company."_

Katara's eyes went wide as saucers. _"He's here to kill the moon spirit! We have to stop him! Hurry up and untie me. He can't get to the Koi Fish."_

Zuko looked to his side and into the water. _'Koi fish?'_ Then it dawned on him. The prince unsheathed his prized dagger and cut Katara's bonds. For a moment the two looked at each other, unsure of how to proceed.

That moment however did not last long as they were forced to jump clear of a fire blast launched by one of Zhao's elite personal guard.

Zuko returned fire while Katara tested her stiff limbs. Sitting in one position all day wasn't the greatest thing before a battle. Her water bending suffered as a result. Without any warm-up she felt her muscles spasm and protest when she tried to call upon her element.

"_What are you doing?"_, Zuko snapped. _"Help me out here."_

"_Gee Zuko, in case you forgot I was tied up all day remember. I'm not exactly doing this for fun you know." _With the anger came power and Katara successfully whipped one of the guards with a rather well placed water whip. His scream was almost comical. God there was something wrong with her!

Zuko went on the offensive, while Katara took position beside him defensively. Together the two worked rather well, despite a few hiccups such as Katara's water shield getting in the way of one of the Princes attacks. The usual bickering ensued.

oOo

Over the past several minutes Dante had taken a number of risks in order to end their current stalemate. He'd been grazed as a result, but it had been worth it. Fang only had the one magazine for the pistol, and didn't seem to realize that his liberal ammo expenditure would have consequences. Using the fire benders lack of knowledge to his advantage, Dante had counted exactly how many rounds he had left. If his math was correct, scar face was down to his last two shots. After that the slide would click back, and it would be game over. And Dante was more than ready to end this game.

Fang was no fool. He realized his opponent had changed tactics, and was observing from a distance. What was he up to? The light was fading fast, casting their surroundings in darkness. The silhouette of his opponent was clearly visible in the street. He could see the movement as his enemy scanned his surroundings, shifting and pointing his fire stick this way and that. His gut screamed at him that something was wrong, and a moment later the Majors good eye identified movement on one of the bridges above the wide street. He grinned, realizing that the moving mass below was a decoy of water meant to lure him out.

Fang slipped back into the shadows, doubled back and swung around wide. From the archway he could see the shadow of the assassin, waiting. The major stepped out from his cover and pointed the pistol at the young man. He fired once, then again, and tried squeezing the trigger a third time before realizing that the weapons had changed shape. He looked it over, noting his enemy had slumped over. Finding the weapon useless, Fang cautiously approached, wary but confident that his nemesis had been dealt with. It came as a surprise when a large mass of water rushed towards him from behind. Unable to dodge, Fang sent a long stream of fire to block the attack, but realized too late that no amount of fire could stop the sheer mass of water. It impacted and blasted him into a nearby building before Dante froze it solid. Knowing he only had a few moments before the Fire bender would break free, the Water bender gripped his rifle, thumbed off the safety, and exhaled halfway before firing a single shot through the center of Fangs head.

This time Dante confirmed the bastard was dead. It had been a hard and above all unorthodox fight. It took a trap within a trap to pin the bastard down. Before turning to deal with Zhao, Dante picked up his wet sidearm, bent the water off it and swapped the empty mag for a new one. The click of the slide release echoed off the cold ice buildings around him. He looked once more at the dead fire bender, and spat at his feet in disgust.

oOo

The sun had set, and for the second night a nearly full moon graced the Northern wastes with its presence. The besieged water benders who had been battered all day long came out of the figurative woodwork and began to pummel the hapless fire navy force. The counterattack to repel the invaders had begun.

oOo

The Fire nation Prince was a skilled bender, one who fought for every inch tooth and nail to get where he was today. He never asked for shortcuts, or the easy way out. That sort of attitude had made him the man he was today. He'd also pushed himself lots before, but damn this fight was truly one that tested him. Katara had recovered from her earlier blunders, but the two of them were still having difficulty just staying alive. Zhao and his guards were using their numerical advantage to drive the pair further and further away from the spirit pools. Finally they were pushed back far enough for Zhao to break contact. He proceeded to quickly bag the white koi fish, plunging the clear night sky into a red darkness.

oOo

Dante was sprinting up the last flight of what were far too many stairs when it happened. The moon turned red, and he felt its power waning. It was the strangest feeling. He could no longer sense the water around him. The best way to describe it was losing your sight, because in essence for him Water bending had become something of a sixth sense, and he'd come to rely on this sense. Cursing, the young man redoubled his efforts to get to the Oasis. The guard of water tribe warriors lay scattered around the entrance. Ahead he saw a hooded figure slipping into the sanctuary, and he knew that he had less than two minutes to stop the moon spirit from dying.

oOo

Zuko and Katara ceased their futile struggle when Zhao held his fist to the bag containing the squirming koi/spirit. His guards stood at the ready, but both unlikely allies dropped their bending stances showing their willingness to talk.

"_No, don't! Please!"_ Karara was near tears. The petite water bender was at a loss of what to say, how to try and stop what was about to happen.

"_It is my destiny. To destroy the moon…and the water tribe!" _Zhao's tone sounded borderline psychotic.

"_Admiral Zhao!"_ Iroh's booming voice was clearly discernable before he dropped the cloaks hood and stood on the other side of the pool. _"You mustn't do this. We all require the moon for balance. Without it the world would plunge into chaos."_

"_General Iroh. Why am I not surprised to discover your treachery?"_ The admiral replied in mockingly.

Iroh's face contorted in anger_. "Whatever you do to that spirit, I'll unleash on you tenfold! Let it go, NOW!" _

Dante silently approached from behind rifle at the ready. His heart was pounding in his chest like it never had before. This was the one chance to prevent the canon from claiming another victim. He controlled his breathing, and took aim. The pressure on the trigger increased, his target unaware of what was about to unfold. Zhao looked like he had seen reason, but moments after releasing the moon fish back into the water, he reached back with a feral scream, and at that moment the crack from Dante's gun felled the man, a millisecond before he could have done his evil deed. His guards raised their arms in a ready stance, but were stopped by Iroh's next words.

"_If you value your life you will stand down soldiers._"

Iroh didn't relish seeing the man die, but his face betrayed that a part of him at least was relieved the threat to the spirit had passed. Dante had already lowered his gun, not even paying the remaining guards any attention.

"_Man, that was a close shave. Sorry I'm late." _Dante tried to sound aloof, hoping it would hide the shakes he was beginning to feel following the events of the evening. Whatever sins he'd committed previously were absolutely dwarfed by the kill count he'd accumulated over the last two days. The sad thing was that in killing Zhao before he'd lashed out at the moon, the Water bender had saved countless lives because the Ocean now wasn't going to sink the fleet off shore. It had been a necessary evil.

Katara was relieved, though a little shaken at having a man die in front of her very eyes. Zuko took the sight a little better, and proceeded to march up to the body and drape a coat over the former Admiral.

Iroh nodded somberly, before addressing the tired water benders.

"_You have my thanks. Without you, the moon spirit would surely be dead."_ Iroh formally bowed in the traditional Fire nation bow, hand over fist. Dante simply extended his hand, which Iroh to and shook with a smile.

"_All in a day's work. Now, You should probably take command of Zhao's forces and end this pointless battle."_ Iroh nodded, and beckoned for Zuko to follow. The prince hesitated for a moment, and Dante almost thought that he would try to pull something. Zuko however simply walked past, following his Uncle and the remaining guards back towards the ongoing battle. Dante and Katara raced to the Sokka's location on top of the palace to announce a cease fire, and seconds later the general's stand down orders were relayed via a series of horn melodies. Iroh's group walked unopposed through the front line and ordered the forces he encountered to send word along the front. A short range messenger hawk was also dispatched to the flagship, informing them to cease bombardment.

Within minutes the city fell silent. The siege was over.

* * *

When I proofread this chapter, I was unhappy with the fight between Dante and Fang. Originally Dante absorbed the bullets fired by the evil fire bender with a water shield, but after a little more research it turns out that 9mm FMJ rounds go a lot further in water than previously thought. I re-watched the Myth busters episode to confirm.

Also, for those of you wondering what a toonie is, it's the $2 coin Canada mints.


	16. Chapter 15: Migrating South

Update time! Sorry for the almost month-long pause, but I was very busy fleshing out another story I'm working on. I've re-read this chapter before uploading, but let me know if I misspelt anything or made some terrible grammatical errors. Thanks!

* * *

Pakku declared Katara and Dante Water bending Masters two days after the Fire navy fleet departed.

The event was way more informal than when he graduated from post-Secondary a few years ago. No fancy chairs, speeches, or funny looking robes with tassels everywhere. Instead of getting a nifty piece of paper to hang in your igloo both Water benders got ink to identify their new status. Pakku looked like a Yakuza mob boss under his coat after asking what if he had any tattoos. Deciding against something so…extensive, Dante picked an intricate wave like pattern that would start halfway up his forearms and snake its way all the way to his shoulders. The process hurt like a bitch and lasted another two days. Endless tapping of bones driving sharpened needles into his skin echoed thru the ink masters hut in a process the Northerners called _tebori._ He was forbidden from trying to heal the angry red patterns that stood out in stark contrast to his much fairer skin. The healing process would pull the ink and ash from its new resting place and undo all the painstaking work the tribeswoman had invested into him.

Despite her insistence of needing no payment Dante handed her his last pair of ski goggles with a pained smile and a promise never to visit again, despite the warriors' insistence that she had the gentlest hands in in three generations.

19 days since their arrival the small cargo ship and its crew were ready to head back out into the open Ocean. Goodbyes were exchanged, and gifts heaped upon the New Heroes of the city. Dante felt like a million bucks when he left. The feeling quickly faded though when he was forced to scrub the deck with his "mastery" of water bending. Sometimes he just wanted to send that cranky old man over the side of this boat.

The next move, discussed in detail back at the North Pole was to reach Ba Sing Se. Before heading there Cap was going to deposit part of the group along the coast close to Gaoling.

It was time to kick up their earth bender.

With Zuko presumably in exile and Zhao dead, the journey back down the earth kingdom coast was actually rather boring. There were no fire navy patrols, no pirates to harass them, and even the weather was unremarkable. He wrote to Iroh inquiring about their status, and if he knew anything about a group of Kyoshi warriors that had planned on killing Zhao. The response came several days later, and Cap again had to translate.

'_Dante, it seemed my dear brother has labeled us as traitors just as your cellular phone has foretold, and we are now on the run. I cannot disclose our current location, but we will be heading towards Ba Sing Se. As for your friends, they were kept prisoner of the ship. Zhao was not kind to these girls. I personally ordered their release, and they are now escorting us thru the earth kingdom!'_

Cap and Dante looked at one another with worry. Two exiled fire princes being escorted by a group of earth kingdom women warriors. It sounded like the start of a bad joke.

Training was progressing well. Dante was focusing on his ice dragon technique. He hoped to use it later on to fly over the mountain range between the coast and the land locked city. The results were mixed. After a week of trying, he was up to twenty minutes of flight time before his energy reserves were drained. He could double that if he ascended and glided intermittently. It was progress, but would it be enough? Forty minutes of flying equated to about 70kms travelled. The calculations were crude, done with the help of a stop watch and predetermined ice buoys connected to one another under the surface. He explained the calculations to Sokka and Cap, which grasped the concept but had difficulties duplicating them. After he finished his they did another exercise to see how fast the boat could travel.

There was another type of training the Canadian was conducting, though entirely in secret. As a water bender, he'd be foolish not to master the art of blood bending. But it didn't just end there. Even now, on the dark lonely deck he could feel the five live signs below. Four humans and a bird. Each was different enough that identification was child's play. All of these bodies held water. So why not bend that water? Not the blood, but the Water molecules within each and every cell.

For the last few nights, Dante had caught fish and deposited them in ice containers. Isolating the water in the fish's body was easily done. It was manipulating it without rupturing the cell walls that proved to be difficult. The first half dozen or so attempts resulted in horrible failure. Just like Hama's fight with Katara in the Canon, all the water had been pulled from the poor aquatic animal, leaving a dry husk. It startled the young man enough to stop and turn in. But as he lay next to a snoring Sokka in the hay the next night, the realization of how easy it had been to end the poor creatures life forced him back topside to continue. This was far worse than using his gun on someone. If he panicked that newly discovered bending move could end a life in a flash. It was a scary realization.

They say that practice makes perfect, but in this case practice also killed his test subjects. Despite the importance of learning to control this technique, Dante was unwilling to proceed after yet another failure.

The time came when it was time to part ways, at least for the moment. Cap and Maria would continue on and circle around the continent, while Dante, Katara and Sokka headed for Gaoling. They would meet up in Ba Sing Se, specifically in Chameleon Bay.

Goodbyes were exchanged, and in Sokka/Maria's case a little more. _"Christ you two_", Dante whined with a hint of envy_. "Get a room will ya?"_ He missed his wife. It had been months since he'd seen her, talked to her, laughed with her. And he knew it would be at least two more. The trio jumped off the boat and Katara propelled their ice raft to shore. Dante was going to need every ounce of strength he had. When they made landfall he molded the dragon's limbs and pieces, keeping this one simple and light due to the additional weight he'd have to carry.

Once complete they hoped on, in full winter gear. The wind and high altitude would be bone chilling, but necessary for the ice to remain solid. Flying too low for this long would cause it to start melting, and he didn't feel like re-freezing the outermost layer every few minutes.

The ice beast sprang into action and struggled to rise above the tree line before turning and heading towards the distant mountain range.

oOo

Zuko's life had been turned completely upside down since his ship was seized by Zhao. He went from having his own cabin which he shared with no one to being part of a large group of only girls. It had been a week since departing the flagship and beginning their journey to the Earth Kingdom Capital. Needless to say things were getting…interesting. In the beginning the Kyoshis were highly suspicious of both fire benders; though his Uncles attitude and warm personality quickly dispersed the wariness the group exhibited around them. Zuko on the other hand was having more difficulty adapting to his new travel companions.

"_Uncle, these girls are crazy."_ Zuko whispered before looked around with paranoia. _"Yesterday they snapped at me for no reason whatsoever. I was minding my own business! It's like they were all in a bad mood for some reason."_

Iroh chuckled.

"_I have a feeling I know what might be bothering these girls. There is a special tea that helps. Let's go see if we can find the plant to help make it."_

Zuko nodded in agreement. Anything that would keep these chicks off his back would be welcome.

That night, Zuko took back everything bad he ever thought about his Uncle. The man was a genius.

oOo

Dante was exhausted. They flew for over an hour, or as long as necessary to find a body of water large enough to continue on the next day. Their campsite was next to a medium sized stream out of the way from any trails or roads. The only village they saw on the way was over thirty kilometers due south. Katara had started dinner, while Sokka was gathering more wood for the fire. It was only just after midday, but for today they had traveled enough. Judging from the time spent aloft, he estimated they had covered a good eighty or ninety K today, or the same amount as two days of nonstop walking. He would have killed to have a pet Sky Bison right around now, the wary Canadian thought with an eye watering yawn.

After an hour long nap, he felt energetic enough to explore the campsite's surroundings a little. The vegetation wasn't too dense, with tall grass dominating the immediate area around the stream. Dinner was nothing fancy, but he thanked Katara regardless and offered to help her with dishes. That done, the trio relaxed by the fire as the sun began to set.

"_So Dante"_, Sokka started. _"What's this Toph girl like?"_

_The young man chuckled. "Well, the best term to describe her would be Tomboy. She's no peach, even if she looks like one. The girl knows how to fight. Apparently she's won several earth rumble competitions, and she's only twelve or thirteen."_

"_What's Earth Rumble?"_ the younger sibling asked.

"_It's a mixture of wrestling and earth bending. Lots of theatrics, but there is skill involved. Basically it's a tournament that draws the best earth benders from across the kingdom."_ Dante prodded the fire with a stick as he spoke, mesmerized by the dancing flames. Convincing Toph to join them would be a tough sell. Even when the real Avatar had visited it had taken her father's overprotectiveness for her to make her decision. He doubted the Bei Fongs would even grant him an audience, being a nobody and all.

The next morning they were off, and thirty minutes later back on the ground, this time by a lake. After lunch another attempt was made. It truly was the best way to travel. The views were breathtaking, or perhaps it was the fact that they were about 15,000 feet above sea level. Either way Gao Ling was easily identified when they passed the snowcapped peak to their left. Dante glided over the city once before landing in an empty field just outside the town. The fatigue was becoming manageable, and the fact that he did two shorter trips meant they arrived a full day earlier than expected. Taking advantage of that fact the water benders/warrior asked around town where they could find the Bei Fong Estate. They staked out the property looking for any easy ways inside, but found the walls to be both robust and tall enough to deter people from jumping over them (it was impossible really)

Luckily there was a river right across the road from said wall and one ice ladder later they found themselves inside the extensive gardens. Not three seconds after their boots hit the ground, he and the others were launched into the air by a pillar of earth. Dante and Katara cushioned their falls with water from the pond, but Sokka wasn't so lucky.

"_You're trespassing on private property! Tell me who you are and what you want or I'll call the guards!"_

Dante helped the moaning Sokka off the ground before turning and facing the petite looking girl, who was dressed in white.

"_Hello Toph."_

oOo

"_This is humiliating! We are royalty. Having to walk like this is degrading."_ It seemed the pampered fire prince had reached the end of his rope when it came to the mode of transport common folk relied on to get around.

"_Now, now Nephew. Traveling is enjoyable no matter how fast or slow when the company is as lovely as these fine ladies"._ Zuko racked his fingers thru the stubble that was his hair before storming off. It was business as usual it seemed.

"_Someone needs to slap some sense into his royal highness"_ a girl from the group finally shared when Zuko was out of earshot. They all nodded in agreement.

It was strange, he thought while packing up camp a few days later. The girls were doing the same. Bed rolls were packed, supplies stowed and there was light chatter amongst the Kiyoshi's. With the exception of Mai he'd never been close to a girl, especially not one from the continent. But that wasn't the real reason. Living and traveling with the warriors was… enlightening. After the North Pole, he and uncle were labeled enemies of the state, forced to band together with the very people he'd learnt to hate so passionately. But observing them, interacting with them revealed just how wrong he'd been. He blushed slightly as his treacherous teenage mind lingered on yesterday's memory. Suki smiled as she walked by, tucking a stray lock behind her ear. Why something as simple as a smile could cause him to lose his cool like that was beyond him.

The Fire bender slung the heavy pack over his shoulder and tightened the straps snug. Since leaving the spa they'd passed numerous towns. Ba Sing Se was the final destination according to his uncle. Personally he was just happy not to be in charge for once. Honestly, it was exhausting.

oOo

Zuko was crouching near the water washing his tunic. The last few days had passed in relative silence, something for which the fire bender was immensely grateful for. He found that if he pulled his weight amongst the group, the girls would leave him alone. (For the most part) The bushes to his right rustled and he paused, only to relax when he saw it one of the girls. He didn't know which with all that makeup, but it wasn't as though it mattered.

The Kyoshi observed the shirtless youth with a stony expression while he continued to scrub the fabric with a bar of lathery soap.

"_It works better with hot water…"_ she placed a large wooden bucket next to him before crouching down beside him. Zuko dropped his shirt into the water and filled the bucket, then placed his hand inside until it steamed.

"_Thanks"_, he said hoarsely.

She nodded. _"You know, you should be nicer to your Uncle. He really cares for you. Don't lose sight of that."_ She placed a hand on his shoulder, and any snappy response about her minding her own business died before he could even take another breath. The prince turned to look at her, then got back to the task at hand, not sure how to respond.

"_D-do you want me to wash anything for you while I'm at it?"_ Zuko couldn't believe that he'd just said that! He was royalty. To wash his own cloths, yet alone another's was beneath him. Why did he always say stupid things when he was around girls? Gahh.

To his surprise however Suki smiled, revealing a perfect set of brilliantly white teeth.

For just a split second Zuko wondered what she would look like without he makeup, but he quickly squashed the thought lest his mind wandered places it really shouldn't. He was so focused on her smile he didn't even hear the _"no, but thank you for asking" the_ young girl replied with. Finding nothing else to talk about, she stood back up and returned to camp, leaving the scared youth confused about what had just happened.

oOo

Dante sat down with a grunt and took of his combat boots. _"What are you doing?"_, the Bei Fong heir asked with mild confusion.

"_You can tell if people are lying with your earth bending, so I thought I'd make things easier for you and take these off."_ Dante said matter-of-factly._ "But in this case you can't because of the rubber insoles on my boots."_

Dante rose once more, and from the expression on Toph's face he knew that she was 'looking' at him. _"Here it goes I guess. My name is Dante, and this is Sokka and Katara. We came here looking for you actually. You're the Blind Bandit, reigning champion of the earth rumble tournament. Were here to ask you for help."_

Toph crossed her arms, obviously in full lie detector mode. _"I don't know how you found out my pro wrestling name, but I'm warning you. Tell anyone and I will pound you into the ground like a fence post."_

Dante couldn't suppress the grin that was forming. Toph was one of his favorite characters._ "Don't worry squirt, I don't plan on telling anyone, especially your parents._" She relaxed a little, but frowned at the nickname.

"_Why do you need my help?"_

"_Rumor has it you're one of the best there is at earth bending. Me and my posse are in route to Ba Sing Se, where we hope to convince the earth king to launch an invasion against the Fire nation. We actually just came from the North Pole. They've already agreed to help when the time comes."_

He made it sound like it was no big deal.

"_But our reason in Gaoling is to recruit you." He pointed a finger at the three and a half foot wrecking machine. "Word on the street is that you're the badest earth bender this side of Omashu. I ain't got no money to pay you, but if we pull this off the World will know that Toph Beifong isn't just some delicate flower hidden away in her family's estate."_

Toph looked undecided so he added one last thing. _"Look, you don't need to give us an answer right away. Sleep on it; take as much time as you need. We'll be in one of the inns around town, but I'll stand in front of your families' main gate at noon every day."_

He turned to leave. _"Thanks for hearing us out Toph."_

Dante pulled water from the pond and made another set of ice stairs.

"_So now what", _Sokka asked when they walked back to the town center. The young man shrugged. _"I dunno, should we go shopping?"_ Gaoling was well behind the front lines of the war, so there was no army presence that could give him grief. The wanted posters that had plastered Ling Shau were nowhere to be found, and for once Dante could walk around like a normal person. It was nice.

The wares sold here were high quality, but because they were travelling most were out of the question. One store however specialized in weapons, were a dagger caught his attention. Dante still had plenty of cash, to the point where he would actually lose a couple of grams if he used all of the small change he'd accumulated over the last two months. The storeowner wasn't impressed at the method of payment. Counting all that copper was almost painful. It did remind him of the time when he paid for a full tank of gas back home with nickels and dimes. The memory made him smile, and only added to the shop keeper's foul mood.

The siblings came back to the inn with something as well. Sokka with a new bag &amp; messenger Hawk (surprise surprise) and Katara with a green and beige outfit. The trio had dinner that night with the inn keeper, a middle-aged woman who seemed nice enough but didn't stand out in any way. He briefly entertained the thought that she might be EKIS, but after openly talking about the mysterious group he dismissed the thought. Her heartbeat hadn't changed at all.

oOo

Toph hadn't slept a wink all night. That strange man's offer kept her wide awake. How had he known of her secret title? Or her sight. She couldn't really 'see' him with that strange footwear, but somehow he already knew that, even walking around barefoot just for her sake. And what about his request. Go to the capital to ask the king to fight the Fire Nation? _'Was he serious?'_ She wondered what it would be like to travel the world. Toph grunted when the maids ushered her out of bed and got her dressed. She hated it! Breakfast was a painful affair, and knowing that she'd have to go to lesions with that sad excuse for an Earth bending teacher didn't help the matter.

Master Yu was a fraud. His bending lacked passion, he didn't listen to the earth, just moved it without any soul. It was depressing. This whole place was depressing.

Toph didn't know what time it was, but for her it didn't matter. The young girl's earth vision extended past the grounds, and the now familiar fuzzy outline of yesterday's visitor approached. His footwear obscured a lot about him, but for the brief few minutes when he took them off she was able to sense that he meant every word. The petite earth bender snuck out of her room, slipped past the far to laidback guards her father employed, then exited the house (mansion).

"_I need more time!"_

She smiled when the young man flinched at the sound of her voice.

Dante turned, seemingly un-phased at the fact that she got the jump on him. _"How long? There is somewhat of a timeline I'd like to keep."_

She stared straight ahead, deep in thought. _"Another day, then you'll have your answer."_

Dante nodded. Then he remembered she couldn't see. _"All right. Same time tomorrow."_

Toph had bought herself another day. Another day of not being put on the spot. She wanted to say yes, but it was too sudden. She needed more time to think.

Dante had hoped for an answer, but made plans for another night in Gaoling anyway. It was a modestly sized city, and there were plenty of things to do…though none that jumped into his head at the moment. At least the inn was booked for another night.

Before the Water bender even had a chance think about being bored, a pair of burley men blocked his route. He actually had to look up, and recognized the pair. It was the announcer from the earth rumble tourney, and none other than the Hippo!

Dante politely asked them to move, but the reason for their behavior soon became clear when the long haired guy produced a wanted poster of him.

"_You're going to make us rich men."_

Dante sighed in frustration. Reasoning with these guys wouldn't work. Looking around, he identified a water filled ditch to the left as one possible source, and a barrel containing penta-pods as another. They were clearly visible clinging to the barrel walls, while a few more zoomed from one end to the other.

Without warning, Dante jabbed pretty boy in the side of the head with a pure melee attack and backed off. The Hippo roared in anger and stomped the ground with his knobby feet, sending ripples and cracks towards the Water bender. Dante leapt to the side lest he be swallowed by the newly formed crevice, and swirled water around his body after coming out of the roll. The long haired man had recovered just in time for Dante to water whip him across the face.

"_C'mon, I expected more from a pair of Earth Rumble fighter. Show me whatcha got bitches!" _

Blocks of earth shot out of the ground by the unsightly giant, but Dante countered with ice blocks of his own. Two rumble benders against one Water bender sounded like bad odds, but his demeanor was calm and collect. These guys lacked the discipline and cunning of the Dai Li, focusing more on flashy moves that sapped a lot of energy.

Toph felt the fight because the stranger had not moved far from her family's compound when he was confronted, but mainly because the Hippo's bending was some of the crudest she'd ever felt in her 13 years of life. Wanting to get a better 'view', she placed her hand on the firm ground. Normally she'd never use her hands for earth seeing, but they were too far off for her calloused feet to make out the finer details. The fuzzy figure she knew to be the Water Bender had no issue fending them off despite their numerical advantage. The blind earth bender placed a second hand on the stone because something felt weird. The ground underneath the three was becoming darker, harder to see through. It was like when it rained. There was water in the soil, and lots off it.

It was almost time. Both earth benders were now on the offensive, forcing Dante to back up and block with Water tendrils attached to his arms. With every step back they moved closer, right over the area Toph was curious about.

Dante took full control of the water, vibrated it back and forth. The dirt and stone beneath were reduced to a slurry of mud the consistency of quicksand, and within seconds the two offensive earth benders were up to their necks in the stuff. Then he froze the water, entombing both in a strange mass similar to permafrost.

"_You two aren't the brightest"_, he stated matter of flatly, _"so I'm going to explain what happened here. See, when ground is saturated enough and the right mix of sand and gravel, an earthquake like tremor can cause it to lose its rigidity. The process is called liquefaction. Unfortunately I can't make earthquakes, but vibrating the water sure as shit did the trick. Now, if you'll exuse me…"_ Dante kicked both in the head, rendering them unconscious before forcefully ejecting them back out of the ground.

Two distinct thuds echoed thru the stone, and Toph rose in awe. She was sold. This guy was a genius, and that's saying something coming from her. He'd used water bending in a way that mimicked earth bending. The brief fight was one of the best she'd ever seen! To think that those two dunderheads were actually beaten by their own element. She shamelessly laughed before heading back inside.

Dante was actually grateful for the exercise. It had been weeks since he'd last clobbered someone, and he was starting to miss it. The Canuck buried his hands in his pant pockets and began whistling a tune, feeling rather cheerful after the encounter.

oOo

The next day…

It was noon, and the three water benders/tribesman were standing in front of the large wooden gate when she slipped through.

"_So, what's the verdict?"_ he asked cheerfully.

_She grinned. "I'll do it. I'll fight alongside you."_ The fact that she wore her usual cream colored outfit from the show had already answered the question. _"Well, that's great news. Welcome aboard."_ He held out his hand, which she shook rather firmly. It never ceased to amaze him that she had such great hand eye foot co-ordination.

"_Now, are you ready to head out?"_

She shrugged her shoulders. _"I'm good to go."_

Dante nodded before turning around to face the river. She was confused as to what he was doing until their ride stepped onto solid ground.

"_What…is that?"_ She even pointed at it.

Dante turned to look at the petrified girl before grinning. _"That's our ticket outta here."_

The siblings were already in the saddle, where Sokka caught the duffel Dante tossed up at him. They had purchased thicker blankets to throw over the ergonomic but very cold seats. As his flight time increased, so did the discomfort of having a large hunk of ice wedged between your legs.

Chivalrous as ever, the young man gave Toph a quick boost to her spot before settling behind the creature's neck. The two day break had done wonders for him as they took off. Despite the added 50kg of weight the pint sized earth bender now added, the effort to propel his creation was much less strenuous than previously. They were also aided by warm updrafts, allowing him to glide the icy cold reptile for several hours instead of the usual 30-45 minutes.

* * *

Another one down. Can't believe it took 15 chapters to pick up the last member of the original Gaang. I'm still on the fence about the next chapter, considering it features a romance scene(that's putting it lightly). FF is vague on its rules about that sort of thing, so I guess I'll just add a bolded warning in the beginning and forge ahead.


	17. Chapter 17: Forced Insomnia

A/N: For those of you interested, I wrote a short but…insightful chapter about Zuko and Suki's budding relationship. Unfortunately I had to open a separate account on Adult FanFiction to post it. Here is the link for anyone wishing to read (Warning, mature content. You have been warned!)

htt ?no=600094773

* * *

It was laundry day, something that became much easier with two water benders around. The group was down to their underwear in order to clean everything at once…except for Sokka, who only had one outfit to begin with. One of the things they had found in Gao Ling was scent free detergent that came as a pale blue powder. Needless to say everyone was very excited about having clean cloths again. Before the discovery Dante had made due with soaking his clothes in water and pulling the dirty aftermath back out, but it was a losing battle. His small supply of Tide lasted only five weeks, meaning his cloths hadn't seen an ounce of soap for over a month now.

'Damn he'd been here for a long time' the Canadian concluded bitterly.

It was mid-summer in the southern hemisphere now, but they were close enough to the equator that the weather was quite enjoyable no matter what season. He briefly wondered how the rest of his colleagues fared. His adventure was likely one of the longer ones. Hell, THE longest work of fiction someone had selected was something like sixty years. There were some of those people that decided they simply wanted to live in another world, their plan being never to complete the assigned task and living out their days elsewhere, always watched. Not exactly his cup of tea. The avatar verse was a nice place and all, but nothing he couldn't find back home. Hell, most of Asia and Africa are on a similar technology basis as here. One thing was for sure though, the girls here were all stunning.

He was pulled from his train of thought at the sound of faint rumbling. The water in the slow-moving river began to ripple, and looking around Toph was already holding her hand to the earth, her face scrunched up in confusion.

"_Toph, what's going on?"_ He asked, still levitating a large orb of soapy clothes and water.

"_Earthquake?"_ Sokka chipped in.

"_No, it's not… Actually I'm not sure what to make of it, but it's coming this way, and fast." _she pointed towards the nearby tree line.

Dante passed the next load to Katara before walking from the riverbank. _"How long before it gets here?"_

"_Not long. But whatever it is, we should steer clear of it."_

Dante nodded solemnly. If the crazy little earth bender said it was bad news, it was **bad news**.

"_All right, time to pack up", _Dante sighed_. "We'll have company soon, and something tells me they're not friendly."_

"Lets see…"Sokka rubbed his chin thoughtfully."Something that makes the very ground shake heading straight here? Yeah, let's get the hell out of here."

The group moved quickly to load their freshly frozen ride, and just in time. The trees near their campsite started toppling, felled by a metal beast the size of large Grayhound bus. Toph flung a series of impressive boulders at the thing, but they crumbled on its armored nose without any damage.

"C'mon Toph! Let's get a move on!" She launched more rocks at the rumbling beast when Dante plucked her off the ground and onto the dragon with a water tendril.

In the air they circled the beast a few times before flying off.

Azula had entered the picture.

oOo

"What the hell was that?"the ruffled Earth rumble champion asked from her spot between Sokka and Katara.

Dante turned slightly. "That was Zuko's sister, the princess. She's here to find me I think."

"Great, another psycho from that family." Sokka threw up his hands in mock protest. "Why am I not surprised?"

Dante however _was_ surprised. How did Azula manage to find them? He'd always stayed away from any roads or towns when setting up camp. It's not like the ice dragon was some shedding sky bison that left a trail of white fur for them to follow. Could someone have recognized them in Gao Ling? How was it then that they knew exactly where to find their camp?

He mulled the question over in silence for the next few hours while looking for another promising camp site. Dante was getting fatigued, and it was getting dark.

Damn that brat. He could be lounging around a camp fire with clean cloths and good food, not sitting on a block of ice in still sudsy pants and shirt. They picked up a large mass of water, controlled by Katara before heading into the rugged hills overlooking the green pastures below. He highly doubted that she could find them here, and the extra water now frozen into a large sphere would provide them with tomorrows ride.

Tired, he found a semi comfortable spot on the hard ground and quickly fell asleep. He really didn't have it in him to set up the tent tonight. Besides, Togh was damn good at pulverizing the ground into sand.

It only felt like five minutes when someone shook him awake.

"Dante, she followed us. Get up!" The water bender focused his eyes to see Toph crouched next to him.

"Seriously?!"

He grunted before getting up_. _"All right, all right. Let's go."

Forming the winged ice sculpture seemed like second nature at this point, the tired and grumpy Canadian thought.

They departed just as the metal beast clawed its way to their small perch atop one of the shorter peaks, the highest of which was snowcapped and their new destination. They were being tracked, and until he found out how this wouldn't stop. Better to fight with mild fatigue than close to passing out from exhaustion. The snow and ice on the tallest peak would level the playing field.

"Time to scrap this bucket of bolts."

The other three nodded, eager to get this over with and get some shuteye.

A few minutes later the group was stretching on the hard packed snow, following Katara's lead. He was a bit stiff from lying on the ground. Honestly, he had no idea how Toph did it. Speaking of Toph, she asked him to clear a wide spot of snow so she could fight. Dante obliged, and made several dozen ice pots out of the removed snow. Liquid water would make him faster, something he would need against the three girls that were approaching rapidly.

They'd cooked up a rough plan during their brief jump to the next peak. Damage the tracked train, bail out and swing back to their original camp in order to observe how they were being followed. Simple enough.

"_Toph and Sokka, I need you to sabotage their transport while we fight them. Focus on the tracks and any soft spots you can find." _

A side door opened on the train/tank, and three lizards sprang forth, each ridden by one of their foes. Three versus two. Not great, but the water benders were in their element.

Dante got the party started by volleying large icicles at a shallow arc. The projectiles were easily visible and subsequently dodged by the approaching girls. Mai, or doom and gloom as he liked to refer to her countered with a set of stiletto daggers aimed at both defenders. They lodged themselves in the ice shield Katara made for both of them with a series of thuds. Dante sent another volley of ice needles at bun girl, leaving Katara to fend off Ty Lee and Azula. The mistake he made was not telling Katara that Ty Lee liked to get up close and personal to chi block. Busy trading sharp things with Mai, he only noticed she was down when Azula singed his left pant leg.

"Well, if it isn't the Avatar. What a surprise, running into you of all people._"_ Her tone was pure sarcasm, but two could play at that game.

"Oh yeah, quite the surprise indeed." The young man rolled his eyes.

"Just passing thru I take it?"Dante briefly glanced at the female Water bender, who was unsuccessfully struggling to get off the ground. He needed to stall a little longer so that Toph and sokka could finish.

"You ladies seem like reasonable people. Why don't we drop the hostility and talk this through."

Azula crossed her arms in apparent victory, looking smug at the apparent sign of defeat.

"Very well, I accept your surrender. We will not try to harm you any further and you and your companions will be treated somewhat humanely."

Dante laughed. "I think I'll take a rain check on that sweetheart. As lovely as it sounds being held captive by a dominatrix such as yourself, I just don't think I'd get the same kick out of it as you."

Azula turned a bright shade of crimson, and deep down he congratulated himself for being able to embarrass her like that. Not that it was hard, with the only real target of her bulling being her poor older brother. Maybe being on the receiving end of a sharp tongue would teach her some humility. It was doubtful though.

Dante had to dodge the blue fireballs that licked at his feet following the exchange of pleasantries, barley able to get a water whip on target while the princess launched herself at him like some wild animal. Shouting "Down girl!" only fueled the blaze that threatened to create an early spring run off on the mountain they were on. The cold night air shimmered with sheer amount of energy she was releasing.

"How dare you address me in such a vulgar way_"_, she shrieked before launching another blue, almost white fireball. Dante skidded around the battle field on a series of ice ramps and makeshift skates, baiting the girl into further and ever more draining attacks. Dante knew that she had far more energy to spare, having rested inside a metal train for the day while he hauled kids around the countryside in his flying icy school bus! Even avoiding her blows took a toll on his energy reserves. Deciding it was a good time to check on Toph and Sokka's progress, he launched himself upward via a makeshift half pipe, bridging ice skating and skateboarding in some weird hybrid move. Satisfied that they were almost done, he skidded back down and positioned himself close to the prone water bender.

"You know it's been fun, getting set on fire by you and all, but we need to get going. You see, my friends are done disabling your little toy back there and I have somewhere to be." A small look of surprise graced the princess's face before she hid it under a stoic mask of indifference. Dante saw it though, and smirked when she launched another furious assault of hot blue flame at him. Mai joined the offence with more precision guided needles, and he was sure that Ty lee was moving in to take him out, just like she did with Katara. A flurry of unexpected watery counter jabs hit the emotionless girl in the shoulder and face, giving him more breathing room to face Azula. Ty lee came out of nowhere, fingers at the ready, forcing him to back up erratically. He was on the defense, and he needed to do something about it.

For a second fingers brushed the polymer grip of his pistol. There was always that…NO! These were children who weren't even old enough to drive. Even in mortal danger he would never shoot kids. Dante cursed his mind for considering the possibility, but knew it only crossed his mind because in about 30 more seconds he'd be charred and flopping on the ground like a fish.

The barrage the fair skinned fire bender was punishing him with ceased as Azula ducked to avoid a boulder, giving him enough time to cast a water net at Ty Lee, thus immobilizing her in ice with a shriek. With Toph helping as well, they drove Azula away from the still prone Katara. Sokka picked his sister up bridal style and ran towards the ice bird (Dante liked to switch it up every other day)

"Is it done?" he asked between parries with the nimble princess.

"Yeah", Toph hollered back. "Tracks are off, and it'll take a while before they dislodge the rock in one of those pipes." There was a hint of satisfaction in her answer that made the corner of his mouth twitch upwards a tiny bit.

"Good girl. Now let's get the hell out of Dodge!" They both shot off another attack and bee lined it to their ride. Seconds later they were airborne, descending the slopes in a glide that would take the least amount of energy from the already spent Water bender. Dante banked left after several kilometers and circled around to their previous camp.

With the ice bird well hidden, they checked Katara over for any injuries before beginning surveillance on the broken down Tank-train….Trank? Whatever it was.

Dante slumped down next to the still immobilized brunette and briefly looked at her with regret. "Sorry about the Chi Blocking, I should have warned you about how Ty Lee likes to fight."

She huffed in annoyance. "Its fine…I guess."

"Well, on the bright side it'll only last for a few hours." He covered her with the marine colored sleeping bag she owned. "Try to get some shuteye, kay?"

She nodded and Dante left to settle next to Sokka. "She's fine. Just a bruised ego."

Sokka smirked. "The whole master thing was getting to her head, so maybe this was a good thing."

Dante laughed. "Don't let her hear that. She'll end you, brother or not."

The group soon zonked out, and he had to bite his cheek every ten seconds or so to stay awake. Soon it became pinching, then pulling hair. It was hard pulling an all-nighter with no chemical help, made twice as difficult after fighting and flying all day. He could clearly make out the three amongst the machines crew, who were busy repairing the damage Sokka and Toph had caused. Azula was probably the one making the wild flying arm movements. Boy was she pissed. But she did fall for the oldest trick in the book. He'd sucked her in, made her lose sight of the larger picture. It wouldn't work again, he reminded himself with another big eye watering yawn.

The next few hours proved to be worthless, and with each passing minute he became more irritable. Dante's mind wandered, as it often did right before falling asleep. He briefly wondered what his young friends would look like in the real world. Memories of the film adaptation of Avatar came to mind. The movie sucked, though the fact that he watched it with Jo and a few friends in a drive in theater during a downpour might have influenced his memory of the event.

Before long it was daybreak, and the trio emerged from the vehicle. His eyelids felt like lead. That's why at first he wasn't sure if what he saw actually happened. A messenger bird landed, and he swore that every set of eyes on that peak looked right at where they were.

"_Son of a bitch! They know. But how? Where had that messenger bird come from?"_ He scanned the lightening morning sky. The rising sun reflected off the hot air balloon like it would off the moon, and it was more than visible against the inky blue background.

"_So that's how they did it."_ The grumpy Canuck observed the balloon with his binos. It was robin's egg blue to mimic the sky. In the basket was a ridiculously oversized telescopic lens manned by…two individuals. And it was pointed right at their camp.

Sweet revenge would be his. No one kept him up like that and got away with it (except maybe any future children)

Dante woke the others and told them to pack up before he launched himself towards the blimp. The observers must have seen his approach because the balloon turned to flee, but it didn't matter. The fabric popped with a number of well-placed icicles even as he dodged the frantic return fire. The balloon began to fall, but he wasn't a monster. His bird's talons gripped the tattered fabric, then dropped the two about twenty feet over the ground.

Deciding to rub it in her face, Dante swooped over the fire nation group and flipped the angry looking princess the bird(he was delighted to see that she knew what it meant), for which he almost caught a lightning bolt in return.

Despite the fatigue and dark lines under his eyes, he was in good spirits when he picked up the trio of teens.

"_All right ladies and gent, let's find a nice camp where I can SLEEP."_


	18. Chapter 18: A Hot Shortcut

Sorry for the absence. It's been a few months now I guess. This work is still progressing, but my HP fic has been hogging all of my spare time. The good news is its almost done, which means I can finish this behemoth of a fic. it'll be over 100k words for sure, maybe even 150. But enough about me. Please enjoy!

* * *

It was after supper, and the fading light cast the horizon in orange and cream colours. Dante was perched atop a massive boulder a little ways from camp, back resting against the still warm stone.

That single thought a few nights ago had lingered like a festering wound, refusing to go away. He had contemplated shooting children. Out of self defense. Despite his Water bending training and new master status, it was not enough. They'd almost had him on that mountain, surrounded by snow and ice. What if this had happened somewhere with no water readily accessible? Would he still have held back? The answer to this he honestly wasn't sure of.

Dante sighed deeply. Maybe it was time to revisit blood bending…not cell manipulation, but honest to god blood bending. Maybe if he could master it, there was a safety net if things ever got bad again. Who knew?

Despite his headphones, he clearly sensed a member of the group approach. With a little more concentration he found out who. She was almost next to him when he yanked his left ear bud.

"Mind if I join you?"

"Course not Toph." He patted the rock beside him, gesturing for her to sit. The minutes passed by in silence. She had something on her mind, otherwise the little wrecking ball wouldn't have sought him out.

"I never really got the chance to thank you. You know, for asking me to join you guys."

Dante smiled weakly. "I'm glad you're not regretting it."

"Are you kidding me? Not two days after we leave and there's already more action than I've ever seen back in Gao Ling."

"Heh", the laugh was involuntary. "I could do without that sort of action for a little while longer, at least until we get to Ba Sing Se."

She folded her hands behind her head and leaned back, toes solidly connected to the bedrock below. She was curling and uncurling them.

"Ba Sing Se, huh?"

"Yup...you got any family there?"

"Afraid not", she replied. "Do you?"

He laughed again. "Also no. We're going there to convince the Earth king to help us. Kinda hard to fight an entire nation when there's only four of us."

"Ehhh", she shrugged. "I could take em."

The conversation paused again for a few minutes, but the silence this time was comfortable. 'Amazing' he thought after stealing a quick glance at the short blackhaired girl sitting next to him. How different their lives would be in only a few years. He'd seen the spin off done by Nickelodeon, but didn't follow it as closely now that he was out of school. But what he did see was the legacy these individuals were going to leave behind. Yeah, it would be different without Aang in ways he couldn't possibly foresee, but their personality, likes, dislikes, and interests would shape them regardless. And that was something worth fighting for, right? So that they could have a future. Dante inhaled deeply, smelling the clean mountain air. It was peaceful.

"I hear music", she finally said. "It's faint, but I can definitely hear it." The corner of the young man's mouth twitched up. With her sight gone, the other senses must be more sensitive. He'd even turned the volume way down so he could hear her.

"Here. Put this in your ear." Toph held the ear bud in her hand, and moved it with her fingers to ascertain its shape.

"Whoa, that's amazing." She practically yelled.

"Press this button if you want to listen to something else." He guided her petite hand to the mp3 player and pressed her thumb down over the skip feature.

"What's your world like?" The girl sounded truly curious.

"It's…hard to describe. In many ways things are the same. People are born , live, and ultimately die. There are the poor masses, and the few rich. There are nations like here, but instead of just three there's hundreds."

He sighed, looking up at the stars, just beginning to twinkle to life in the darkening sky.

"My world has many, many problems. Everything from natural disasters to all out wars, and everything in-between. Even though it's far more advanced, human nature is a hard thing to overcome. People will always have reasons to fight, be it ideology, religion, or over resources. We might not be at war for a hundred years, but at any given time there is some sort of low level conflict somewhere."

There was sadness in his tone.

"Sounds like a bad place."

"Yeah, but it's not all bad. There are places where war hasn't reached, at least directly in over sixty years. I'm from one of those."

Toph nodded. "You miss it?"

"More than you know." The answer was more of a whisper, but she heard him loud and clear.

The two continued to stare off into the distance. Well, one of them really.

oOo

It had been an hour into their day's journey when Dante landed their icy ride on the edge of a cliff overlooking the barren wastes that was the Si Wong Desert. A mere two months ago was when he saw it last, on the other side while making his way to the Ling Shau. It felt like a lifetime ago. The desert was the quickest way to get to Ba Sing Se, so just this once Dante was going to throw caution to the wind and take a risk. That risk lay up ahead. Not the desert itself, but the men and women that navigated it.

Sand People.

Rumor also has it that there are great big Sand Sharks lurking beneath those dunes. They were probably true if LOK was to be taken seriously. They never did harass them in the canon after all.

The oasis was exactly like he remembered it from the show. Mud huts that surrounded a modestly sized chunk of ice. He landed next to the block, and merged his dragon. The volume increase was marginal due to the hollow structure of the wings and body.

The shady inhabitants of the settlement eyed the group from a distance, including the very people he wanted to speak to. They shifted nervously as he marched up to them.

"How's it goin?" They didn't respond, so he pressed on. "Were looking to cross the desert to reach Ba Sing Se, and were hoping we could hire your services." Still no one replied. "I'm willing to pay handsomely." He pulled a sizable bag of currency from his person and lightly tossed it up before catching it again. The sound of coins jingling was clearly audible.

One of the group, leaning against the sand sailor unfolded his arms and pulled his mask down. "I'm Ghashiun. You double that amount and we'll take you across."

Dante sighed heavily, but agreed. "All right, you have yourself a deal." He turned to leave, but paused. "Also, if you try anything, I won't hesitate to kill you where you stand. We paid you for services, and you…will…"Dante paused. "Deliver."

The youth stepped back defensively. "Also, if you're thinking of trying to collect the bounty on my head I urge you to reconsider. There's a reason they want me, and an even better one that they haven't been able to catch me. Don't be foolish boy."

He started to walk away. "We'll be back in an hour with your payment. Be ready to leave when we do."

Ghashiun bared his teeth and growled, but said nothing. He'd seen the wanted posters of course, and the sum was impressive. He'd get that reward, one way or another.

"So, do we have a ride across?" Toph was frowning, but the siblings looked eager and ready to go. "We do, but the guy doesn't seem trustworthy." He glanced back at the shady looking group of Sand people. "I'll bet you money that he'll try something along the way, so be on your guard."

They nodded in understanding. "Well, let's go get provisioned for the journey, shall we?"

The walked thru town until the dimension travelling man found the familiar lotus outpost. "Umm, Dante?" Sokka scratched the back of his head. "Why are we in a flower shop?"

Ten minutes later they exited with extra water skins and other food stuffs. Sokka was thoroughly confused, but Dante only laughed.

"I thought we agreed on two bags" Ghashiun snapped when the Water bender tossed him the money.

"You get half now, and half when we arrive on the other side." The look Dante gave the Sand bender silenced any retort that might have otherwise been uttered.

The group settled on the strange wooden transport, while the rest of Ghashiun's group manned the second sailer.

Dante was actually exited to travel like this. For once he could just sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. Flying was fine and all, but being a passenger for once felt good.

Toph sat opposite from him, with Sokka and Katara to his left facing perpendicular. It was the layout of the vehicle. If they didn't sit like this it would most likely become unbalanced. The sole sand bender with them remained silent, witch suited him just fine.

"Toph, I know you don't have much experience with sand bending, but do you think you can move this thing if need be?" She looked in his general direction and nodded. The answer made him feel somewhat better. The steering mechanism was rather simple, and as long as sand hit the heavy canvas sail they would keep moving.

If and when things turned ugly, at least they could travel without further assistance.

Things were awkward that night. The sand benders kept to themselves, leaving the group sprawled out on the second sailer. Dante had volunteered to take first watch. There was no way he'd leave himself and his charges unprotected. He woke Sokka around two am, and handed him a caffeine pill with some water.

"Here, knock this back. It'll make you more alert." Sokka nodded after rubbing the sleep from his eyes. There was real concern that the young Water tribesman would fall asleep on watch, a risk Dante wouldn't take.

Dante sighed with pleasure when he laid down on the sand. "Wake me if you think something is going on, ok?"

Sokka nodded again.

oOo

Iroh had always known that his Nephew was a passionate young man. He had drive, determination, and above all courage. All very good traits in a fire bender, and one of the few things from his father's side that could be considered good traits. When Zuko set his mind to something there was almost no way to keep him from perusing it with every fiber of his being. Like Iroh mentioned before, that was a good thing…but sometimes such intense passion could be misinterpreted the wrong way. And as the two newly minted refugees sat on the wooden deck of the Ba Sing Se ferry the Former Dragon of the West chalked the last day's events up to the latter.

Zuko looked dejected. Far from his old simmering and brooding self, his teenage nephew had just experienced the first of what would hopefully be very few instances of being rejected and was looking a little worse for wear. Iroh stole a glance at the short haired boy before returning to his mediocre tea with a sigh. Back in his day the former general had experienced his fair share of such things, though usually he was not of the receiving end of it. The old memories drew a fond smile, one which quickly turned serious when he thought the downtrodden prince was looking his way.

2 days earlier:

After a refreshing but very chilly wash by the nearby river Iroh made his way back to camp, eager for a hot cup of tea and a friendly game of Pai sho with one of the girls. The Grand Lotus was never one to eavesdrop, it simply wasn't in his nature. That proved to be very difficult indeed when the volume of the conversation his ears were picking up was enough for his failing hearing to pick up.

"…so that's it then? We're done, just like that?" The hoarse voice was unmistakable. Iroh ceased his leisurely walk and froze, both to listen better and because he didn't want to barge in on what was clearly supposed to be a private conversation.

"…sorry, but I simply can't come with you and Iroh. My girls look to me for guidance, and I can't see us coping in Ba Sing Se to well. Look Zuko, I like you too, but I think this is moving a little too fast. I mean, were only sixteen. Don't you want to live a little before settling down?"

"I just…I hoped you'd stay. To be honest I'm not sure what to do next."

After a pregnant pause he added; "Forget I said anything."

Iroh sidestepped behind a large oak, quite content with staying out of the limelight as the Fire bender walked past.

"Zuko! Zuko wait!"

The old general waited until the Auburn haired Kyoshi passed as well before resuming his walk back to camp. Perhaps a calming Camomile tea was in order this fine evening.

oOO

Dante woke when the sun was already high in the sky. He looked around, and found that he was alone. He scrambled up and ran up the nearest dune. Nothing but yellow and white sand. He cursed. The tracks showed that the sailers had departed heading North, slightly of course from their original path. He looked around. There was nothing here. Nothing at all. All his gear, water. He had the cloths on his back and two almost useless firearms.

He sat down on a rock. 'How to go about this…? The only thing around were those blasted Cacti that contained the hallucinogen Sokka drank in the canon. But it was still water…' He walked to the innocent looking plants. There was actually a fair amount here. Breathing deeply, he closed his eyes and concentrated. The presence of water far beneath the sand became clear. The long veins of cacti roots snaked deep underground to tap into the groundwater. The Bender shifted, and with fluid motions began to tuck on the source far below. The ground and sand resisted greatly, but with every inch closer his grip on the liquid became more powerful. Soon the sand turned color, and like magic water started gushing from the parched earth. His dragon was smaller than previously, but because he was alone the smaller size wasn't an issue. Dante ascended quickly, using mimicking motions for better control instead of just a mental link to the water like usual. Extending the line the sand sailors had taken he compared it to the direction his compass pointed against and gave chase. The air was clear, and there was little wind. Finding the two sand vehicles would be a challenge, but their operators would need to kick up a lot of dust to operate them.

All that sand was easily spotted. It took over two hours, but he finally caught up. The sun and heat were intense despite the artificial breeze created by his forward movement. His arms and neck stung, no doubt from a wicked sunburn. The clever water bender angled his approach with the sun behind him. Those punks would never even know what hit them. The First sailor was torn apart when the Dragons talons smashed into its sail, snapping it like a twig. The three occupants were thrown from it, but the enraged Canadian was already attacking the second. The remaining water rushed over the second transport and encircled the other two tan colored combatants.

His companions were tied up and blindfolded. He would get to them in a second, but first it was time to deal with Ghashiun. He looked terrified.

"I told you not to try anything. You should have listened." Dante's voice was low and calm. It sounded eerie, even to him. Ghashiun was shaking, but it wasn't from the ice holding him down. "Please"…he pleaded. "I'm sorry."

The USP cycled twice, and the body toppled overboard. The second sand bender had eyes the size of saucers. Dante kicked the man over the edge and onto the sand, but didn't kill him.

"So much for you keeping watch, eh Sokka?" Dante tone was mocking, and rightly so.

"I didn't fall asleep if that's what you mean", Sokka defended. "They offered me some water, and after that everything became funny and strange."

"You dolt, it was spiked!"

"I know that now", he shot back.

Dante sighed as he cut the girls loose.

"Well I hope you at least learnt from your mistake."

Toph smacked the dark skinned boy upside the head when she was free, though it looked funny because her blindfold was still on.

"Way to go meat head", she added. "Good thing we have Dante hear to help us out. God knows who these guys would have sold us too." Katara joined in the communal bashing of Sokka as well.

"All right, all right, he's had enough! Take it easy ladies."

Sokka looked grateful for the reprieve.

After checking that all of their belongings were on board (some were scattered with the other sailer) they climbed aboard and Toph worked her magic. The four remaining survivors were left with an irreparable sand sailer and scant provisions. He wasn't a monster after all.

"You can thank your leader for this."

The three kids didn't ask what the target of the gunfire had been. They heard the exchange loud and clear. Killing Ghashiun didn't faze Dante. If anything he probably did the area a huge favor. With the leader of an entire tribe acting like a bandit, sooner or later these people would have turned into the very thing their future leader had been. One thing was odd though however. Why had he not captured Dante like the others? The bounty was for his head, not theirs. It didn't add up.

Katara sat next to preoccupied young man, and prodded his neck and arms with her finger. "Want me to heal that?" she asked with genuine concern. Dante smiled warmly and nodded. "Yes please." The water felt amazing on the burn, and left him feeling refreshed. "Thanks Katara!"

The remainder of their desert journey lasted three more days. It would have been a week of flying had they gone around, so Dante was pleased to be ahead of schedule for once.

Toph drove the wooden craft until it became lodged on the boulder strewn ground that replaced the fine grained sand. According to the map they were on the northeast corner of the desert, and a mere two days travel time from Ba Sing Se. Unlike last time there was no ground water close to the surface, so it was back to good old walking to get where you wanted to go. Oh Joy.


End file.
